The Runaway Hokage
by EdStargazer
Summary: PL's Missing Hokage Challenge: Konoha wants to get rid of Naruto after the Sasuke Retrieval so Tsunade packs up all her things and whatever else she can carry and goes with him. First 4 chapters Edited - Chapter 5: Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle Part 3
1. The Departure

I decided after seeing a few other efforts on the Missing Hokage challenge by Perfect Lionheart that I would toss my own into the ring. I am a big fan of the couple of Naruto and Hinata. I hope my effort is worth the time to read.

Additional Notes (January 2011): After leaving the story sit unattended for over a year, I sat and re-read the entire thing to get a feel for it once more. I found that the story does not read like one of mine at all so I am expanding and editing my work. I will keep the spirit if the original challenge but several plot points will no longer be met.

**The Missing Hokage Challenge**

The Departure

The rains began shortly after the first medic squad had returned to the village. They carried Akimichi Choji through the gates into the ninja village known as Konohagakure. The rookie ninja was in critical condition from eating his clan's special food pills as a boost to his chakra during a life or death battle. He achieved his victory over the Sound jonin but the victory came at a terrible price. He currently was a shadow of his former self with most of his body fat burned off as chakra. The pills carried a poison in them that would kill the boy shortly if not treated.

Hyuuga Neji was brought in next. with multiple puncture wounds completely through his body. He also had defeated a jonin of the Sound. His enemy used techniques that had given the jonin the appearance and abilities of a spider. The jonin used those spider-like abilities to attack the boy from a distance and took advantage of the boy's weaknesses. In spite of being outmatched in power, Neji had prevailed in his battle through cunning and intelligence. The teen was taken into emergency surgery with Shizune, the Hokage's apprentice, handling the job of focusing healing chakra from several sources to perform a needed miracle on his life threatening wounds.

Inuzuka Kiba arrived next with a kunai wound to the abdomen. It was fortunate to have missed the vital organs so he would be able to recover completely with little fuss. His dog partner, Akamaru, had several torn muscles but the vet said with proper care he would recover completely as well. Like his comrades, he had been forced to divert to face a jonin of the Sound. His battle did not fare as well as the previous ones. He was saved by Kankuro of the Desert. The ninja from the allied village known as Sunagakure was a puppet wielding ninja. Kankuro finished off the two wounded Sound jonin that had fought against Kiba.

Next to return was a larger group. Nara Shikamaru had only a splinted finger to show for his battle but he looked very worried and worn. He had nearly won his fight but in the end the sheer power of his opponent threatened to overcome him. It took the arrival of Temari of the Desert to bring a victory over their enemy. Another Konoha ninja named Rock Lee was limping along being helped by the most unlikely of people, Gaara of the Desert. Gaara was the very person who had inflicted Lee's wounds months before during the Chunin Exams. Temari followed along with them but she just looked bothered by the whole situation as she berated Shikamaru. They had only returned to the village after encountering the jonin Hatake Kakashi on his way to support the final member of the chase team.

The rains lightened to a mist as the hours passed with no word on the final missing team member. Guards at the gate called out that several people were approaching rapidly. The pink haired Haruno Sakura stood up from the bench she waited at and peered through the mist. The girl was waiting for word on the missing members of her squad; Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. She recognized the strangely vertical silver hair of her sensei, Kakashi holding a battered orange and red figure. A few steps behind was a copy of the man with a dark bundle held over one shoulder.

Sakura ran through the open gate along with several more medics holding stretchers. The medics all tried to go past Kakashi to take the dark bundle but Kakashi stopped them with a command.

"Treat Naruto first. That trash can wait."

Sakura stopped as if hit. She looked closer and saw Sasuke was tightly bound with wire and blindfolded. The medics stood still as well until they heard Kakashi yell "MOVE!" The look in his one visible eye was pure anger and the medics moved without pause after that.

"I'll carry this trash to the security wing myself," said as the shadow clone handed the bound boy to Kakashi before dispelling.

The medics hustled off to the hospital with Naruto. Kakashi followed behind them. Sakura slowly turned to watch them take her teammate and crush away.

* * *

The teammates, teachers and close family of the wounded genin were all packed into the waiting area hoping for word. The hospital itself was a madhouse by the time that Tsunade could finish stopping the self inflicted poison going through Choji's body. The Akimichi red pepper pill was a last resort and considered a suicide move. And yet, Choji had taken it to ensure his victory and prevent the Sound jonin from following after his comrades.

Shizune along with a half dozen medics managed to heal Neji with medical ninjutsu. The boy would be out of action for weeks but he would recover with minimal scarring thanks to the chakra based healing of the medics. Kiba was resting comfortably once the wound in his abdomen was stitched closed. Shikamaru had his finger checked over and had been waiting for word on his best friend Choji. The three Sand ninja were siblings and they stood off to one side merely waiting for word on the one person they actually wished to hear about.

Tsunade walked down the hallway in silence holding a single file with the name Uzumaki Naruto. She went into the room and gasped as she read the file once more. Cracked jaw, two crushed cervical vertebrae (half healed), punctured lung (half healed), five ribs over injured lung were shattered or missing, severe burns from electrical jutsu. The detailed list continued down half the page with minor wounds after that. Tears fell down her face as she feared she would be burying another precious person due to the cursed necklace. If it were not for the demon sealed inside of Naruto, the boy would have already been dead back in the Valley of the End.

"Hey, baa-chan," whispered out a weak voice. "You look terrible."

Tsunade looked up with a start. Naruto was awake already! Fighting back to urge to hit the boy for calling her 'granny', she moved closer to the bed and spoke in low tones, "You should be sleeping, gaki."

"Hurts too much to sleep, baa-chan." Naruto said.

"You just sleep and get better, Naruto. You've earned it." Tsunade quickly made the hand signs and put a forced sleep jutsu on Naruto. He faded out before he could make another sound. "You definitely are a special one Naruto. Never change," she whispered as she gently kissed his forehead.

Tsunade wiped her tears away then turned and left the room to go deal with telling the people waiting what was going on.

* * *

The joint council of Konoha normally had little power within the walls of Konoha. The only time it did was in the time there was no Hokage or the first three months after a new one was appointed. Beyond those conditions, Konoha was in actuality a military dictatorship with the Council relegated to dealing with civilian matters.

As those three months had not yet elapsed since Tsunade took office as Hokage, the Council still enjoyed the reins of power in Konoha. They were meeting to find out the details of the so called 'Uchiha Retrieval Mission'. Uchiha Sasuke was charged with fleeing Konoha with intention to defect to the Sound village.

Kakashi was called in to give testimony regarding his students.

"I arrived at the Valley of the End just as Sasuke was walking off in the direction of the Sound. I saw his teammate, Uzumaki Naruto, on the ground beaten near to death. I immobilized Sasuke and brought him back to Konoha. If I had been even a minute later, I would have lost him in the rain."

One of the minor clan representatives spoke up, "Uchiha Sasuke has already claimed in sworn testimony that he was disoriented after defending himself from an insane monster and thought he was heading back towards Konoha. Could you have been mistaken about his intention to flee? Could he have been disoriented and merely been walking in the wrong direction?"

"When I stopped Sasuke, he did not appear disoriented at all, Councilor," Kakashi replied.

"I beg to disagree, Hatake-san. Had you stopped to find out why Uchiha-sama was going in the direction he was? No, you did not. All you did was strike him down and cruelly bind him and carry him back to Konoha with no other medical treatment. Upon arrival, you called off the medics who tried to treat his wounds and tell them not to treat him, but rather to treat his teammate first."

"Uzumaki Naruto had been subjected to several life threatening injuries at the hands of Uchiha Sasuke in the course of his assigned mission to return the fleeing genin to Konoha at all costs. Uchiha Sasuke had minor injuries and could wait. Any triage nurse would have made the same choice."

"But you are not a triage nurse, Kakashi-san. You should have allowed the trained professionals to handle such things upon entrance into the village," the councilor stated before the next one spoke.

"Uchiha-sama has testified that he was disoriented after being drugged by the Sound forces. He thought he was facing and defending himself from a 'demon covered in red chakra' were his exact words. He could only be referring to the Uzumaki boy attacking him. We know of Uzumaki's 'condition' and I find it miraculous that Uchiha-sama was able to defend himself from such an onslaught in his state."

"Councilor, the technique Uchiha Sasuke used to inflict a near fatal wound on Naruto was the Chidori I taught him. It requires a focus and level of control that no person could attain while being drugged and disoriented. That he continues to hold onto that testimony of being disoriented and you believing such drivel lead me to believe that nothing I say will convince you otherwise."

The council stopped that line of questioning once Kakashi had made that statement. They had already made their decision and did not desire to be confronted with facts.

* * *

Mitokaro Homura stood as he had been elected to read the verdict of this hearing.

"In our opinion, it is quite clear from testimony that Uchiha Sasuke was taken under duress from Konoha and drugged by Sound forces. The chunin leader and the genin on the retrieval mission have all testified that Uchiha Sasuke was sealed inside of a barrel for transport. When released from it, Uchiha Sasuke fled while disoriented in a direction away from the combat which happened to be toward the Sound village by mistake. The panel finds that he is innocent of the charge of desertion and the full Council has voted to override the Hokage's sentence of treason in accordance to its power under the laws of Konohagakure."

"This Council has also deliberated the conduct of Uzumaki Naruto in this instance. Sadly, we cannot find that he used excessive force in his attempts to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke as the genin Uzumaki was obviously overmatched by Uchiha Sasuke's prowess. However, we must consider Uzumaki Naruto's other actions."

"ANBU reports large amounts of demonic chakra present at the Valley of the End. This means that Uzumaki either willingly accessed the demon's energy or that the seal is weakening somehow. The Kyuubi that Uzumaki keeps contained is a constant threat to the safety and security of Konoha. If the seal weakens enough to allow it to be released, the demon will escape and continue to attack our village. We cannot contain such a creature with the means Konoha no longer possess and killing Uzumaki Naruto might also cause the demon to be released."

"Therefore, it has been decided for our own safety and by a vote of 32 to 8 within this joint Council that Uzumaki Naruto shall be banished from Konohagakure and not allowed to return without permission. The vote is by more than a two thirds majority and as such the Hokage cannot override this decision in the future."

Tsunade rose to speak to the Council.

"I wish for all present to know and for this to be recorded for the Fire Daimyo as well. This entire proceeding has never heard the testimony of Uzumaki Naruto in his own defense or in the proceeding in the matter of Uchiha Sasuke's attempted defection. Uzumaki Naruto has been in an induced medical coma for the past two weeks to aid in the healing of the grievous wounds inflicted on him by Uchiha. The testimony given by Uchiha Sasuke does not match the physical evidence collected by ANBU and other specialists. I feel his testimony is biased, incomplete and more than likely a falsehood. Without hearing the testimony of Uzumaki Naruto, any decision reached is a travesty of justice and should not be allowed to stand."

Danzo rose and bowed politely, "I understand and agree with your concerns, Hokage-sama. I myself voted against the movement for banishment but I was also overridden on that point." Danzo sat after his brief statement.

Homura continued, "The order of banishment will become effective a week after Uzumaki's health being certified by a physician decided upon by this Council. With that, I pronounce this hearing closed and its decision to be final."

Jiraiya, the Toad Sage and mentor of Naruto leaned in close to Tsunade.

"If you wish to find some means to prevent the banishment, I suggest you work quickly. The boy is nearly healed thanks to the power of his prisoner," he said.

Tsunade went into her office and calmly sat down. Her eyes betrayed her calm demeanor. "Shizune, bring me my stamp and official parchment. Also, find out who our most trustworthy messenger is. I have some deliveries to the Daimyo to be made and I do not want the Council finding out about them just yet. I have some planning to do and little time to get it done."

* * *

Sasuke chuckled as he relaxed in the bath in his home. Fooling those sycophants on the Council had been much too easy. The major ninja clan leaders were all against him but there were enough civilians and minor clan leaders to nullify them. Without Naruto awake to refute his testimony, they had eaten up everything he had said. He had even managed to get the idiot banished by telling about the red chakra the blonde had been tossing about. That had gotten some serious attention from the Council but none would tell him why. It was no important matter really. Within a year, the guards on him would be removed. Once that happened, he would be away from this hellhole faster than he had with the Sound Four.

The next thing he pondered was even more fulfilling for him. The Hyuuga Elders had approached him with an offer. They wanted him to marry the clan heir, Hinata. He smiled evilly. He knew the meek stuttering girl had a crush on Naruto. He could gain control of the Hyuuga by taking her as a political wife. Even more fun, he could rub it in the idiots face that the only girl that truly wanted him, he could never have.

* * *

Tsunade looked at Naruto's chart. She could not hide the fact that he was well enough to be brought out of the induced coma. Damn that demon and its accelerated healing of the boy. She walked toward his room with a heavy heart. She was about to open the door when she heard a soft voice inside.

"I wish I could talk to you like this when you were awake, Naruto-kun. I miss your energy and your smiles. Father says they are going to send you away soon. He did not want that to but too many were against you. It seems so many bad things are happening in Konoha now. The clan is pushing Father very hard as well. The Elders arranged a marriage for me with that Uchiha against Father's wishes. I hate the Uchiha but that is not an issue to them. He is the most prominent bachelor near my age in the village. I would give up everything; even lay down for that caged bird seal if I could marry you instead. But the only thing that could save me from the arrangement the Elders made would be someone of clearly higher status, royalty or the son of a Kage."

Tsunade cleared her throat and Hinata whirled in panic. Her face found a new shade of red as she saw Tsunade smiling at her.

"Tsu - Tsunade-sama, I didn't see you there," the girl stammered out.

"So, the stutter is only present when you are surprised or in front of Naruto, an awake Naruto at least. Were you telling the truth just now Hinata? Would you give up everything for him?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, I would."

Tsunade nodded, "Good, he could use someone like you in his life. I want to meet with your father as soon as possible, Hinata-chan. I have some business I wish to discuss with him on a personal matter, not as the Hokage."

Hinata brought Tsunade in to meet with her father in private the following day. Hiashi had made time for the Hokage without hesitation and they disappeared into his office. Hinata waited outside for nearly an hour before she was called into the office along with Neji and Shizune.

Hiashi looked like his normal stern self and Tsunade had a slight smirk on her face.

Once Hinata was seated, Hiashi began speaking.

"Hinata, Tsunade-sama has made me a series of offers regarding your future. Will you trust me to accept them for you without you knowing all the details at this time?"

"Yes, Father. I trust you," she replied with confidence.

Hiashi nodded. "Good, then you must sign these three scrolls before you. The first is an apprentice agreement making you an apprentice to Tsunade-sama. She is impressed by your own self taught medical skills and feels you could go far with proper guidance."

"The second is a contract allowing Tsunade-sama acting as marriage broker. Your signature is required in addition to mine as you are a ninja of the village and hold status as a legal adult within the village. She has offered to betroth you to the only son of a Kage. His name cannot be revealed at this time but I can assure you that you would find him more acceptable than that traitorous Uchiha."

"The third is an agreement to allow Hanabi to move ahead of you in succession for clan heir. This is designed to protect your sister from both retaliation from the Elders and the Caged Bird seal. As Heir Primus she cannot be sealed for any reason. You must only sign that one after the second because the betrothal agreement has a stipulation that you must be free of the Caged Bird seal. Hanabi is not of age to be married to the Uchiha so she would be safe from that. It would also allow you to return as heir should something happen to her. Neji and Shizune will serve as witnesses to your signatures."

Hinata looked at Tsunade for a moment and only paused long enough to pull back the sleeve of her kimono and take up the official brush before signing her name to each scroll.

* * *

Naruto finally opened his eyes as he was released from the jutsu that kept him asleep. He was tired and sore but felt much better than he had. A dull pain in his neck and ribs told him that he was nearly completely healed. He looked to see Tsunade and Shizune both smiling at him but something was off with both of them.

"Um, did I die or something?" he asked trying for a joke.

"More like or something, Naruto," Tsunade said with a wan smile. "I have to be the one to tell you this before I do anything else and you are misinformed. The Council that holds power between Hokages has decided that you are to be banished from Konoha in about one week's time. I did not have enough of them on my side to prevent it. I have not been Hokage long enough to get all the power of the position. As soon as their doctors examine you, the exact time will be set for your … banishment," she finished barely choking out the final word.

Naruto looked down, "I see."

"Head up, Naruto. You are not going alone. I'll be damned if I will let them do that to you without doing something in return. I only came back to this place because you convinced me it was the right thing to do. The fools on that Council will rue the day they crossed me."

"What are you going to do, Baa-chan?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade grinned like a cat about to eat a captive bird.

"First, you are going to sign a few things for me," she informed him.

"The Old Man told me never to sign anything without reading it and telling him about it because he was my official guardian."

"Well, as Hokage, I became your official guardian so I say these things are okay. First one is you are going to become my official apprentice, effective immediately. The second and third I need you to trust me on. They deal with other issues involving your heritage and your parent's estate."

"My parents? You know who my parents were?" Naruto looked up hopefully.

"Of course I do. I should have been there when you were born, gaki. I just cannot tell you who they were right now. But, I want you to know that they loved you and wanted you in their lives. They both died the day the Kyuubi attacked. Just trust me, okay?"

Naruto slowly nodded and reached for the brush.

* * *

One week later, Naruto stood at the eastern gates of Konoha looking at the friends he had made; Team 8, Team 10, Team Guy, Kakashi, the Ichirakus, and Iruka with the Konohamaru Corps. He had learned that none of their parents on the Council had voted against him. The clans of Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Sarutobi, Yamanaka and strangely elder Shimura Danzo had all voted against his banishment. The Hokage's vote there was not added. Kakashi, Iruka, TenTen and Lee had no family on the Council.

Sakura and Sasuke were nowhere in sight. Naruto did not wish to see Sasuke but he felt sad that Sakura was not coming to see him off.

He hugged each one in turn. Hinata almost fainted but only turned a deep maroon. Even Shino gave him a goodbye hug and his bugs buzzed as well. Tsunade waited off to one side with the Sand Siblings. Naruto picked up his small bag and climbed upon the back of a summoned frog and headed out. He headed east toward the Wave until he was out of sight.

Tsunade nodded. "Now, Hinata go get ready. We are traveling to the capital then on to Sand village with your betrothed."

Everyone looked at Tsunade with a puzzled look. Sasuke had been bragging all week about his betrothal to Hinata while she had kept herself within the Hyuuga compound to avoid him. Hiashi merely sniffed in a haughty fashion. "I decided that she would be better off marrying the son of a Kage instead of that vile traitor. As her father and clan head, I am within my rights to overrule the clan elders in that way."

It was common knowledge that the Sand Siblings were the children of the Kazekage and none of them were married. Most of the people gathered smiled at what Hiashi had done. Losing Hinata to another village was a small price to pay over her being forced to marry that Uchiha. Ino hustled off with this latest gossip.

* * *

Two hours after Naruto departed, a wagon waited near the western gates. Hinata sat in it wearing the traditional clothes of a bride traveling more than a day to meet her husband. Gaara, Kankuro and Temari would be traveling back to Sand with the cart. Once more the friends were saying goodbye when another group approached. Several Hyuuga elders and Sasuke led the group.

"Where are you going with my bride?" he said in a loud voice.

"Hinata is not your bride," Hiashi said in a not so patient voice. "She accepted betrothal to the son of a Kage. He outranks you socially and he has the wealth of his inheritance to support them. You have no claim upon her."

"She is mine," Sasuke said as he reached toward Hinata. Hiashi struck out once and closed a tenketsu point on Sasuke's wrist which paralyzed the boy's hand.

"If you attempt to touch my daughter again, you will not have a hand to draw back, Uchiha," Hiashi said with malice in his voice and a fire in his eyes.

The Hyuuga elders approached Hiashi and he showed them the scroll with Hinata's acceptance of Tsunade acting as marriage broker for the arrangement. As one, they bowed to Hiashi and left with honor satisfied. After all, the son of a Kage did outrank even an Uchiha.

Tsunade put on the Hokage hat and sat in the cart with Hinata. An ANBU drove the cart as Shizune drove a second cart out of Konoha. the rest of the ANBU guard for Tsunade surrounded them and the Sand Siblings as they filed out the gate.

The small caravan made its way to the capital. The carts were much slower than ninja could run and the group found itself bored. Tsunade tossed the Hokage hat to one side as she relaxed in the sunshine. Hinata just sat nervously. She did not like the idea of being sent off as a bride but she trusted her new master and teacher.

* * *

At night the caravan would stop at an inn. The girls noticed that Tsunade did not seem to be too interested in making good time on their journey. As ninja they could have run to the capital already. The cart in truth was unneeded as the supplies could have been stored within special seals. They realized that Tsunade was planning something but the blonde Hokage was not telling her secrets.

It was on the third day out of Konoha when something finally happened. The group was a few miles outside of the capital when the ANBU tensed up. Tsunade chuckled and told the guards to relax. This was someone she was expecting. The cart moved forward once more. Around a bend in the road Naruto was waiting for them.

Tsunade smiled.

"You're right where you were supposed to be Naruto. I'm impressed."

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head as he normally did, "I can do some things right baa-chan."

Tsunade beckoned Naruto closer before popping him in the forehead with a finger.

"You have to call me sensei, apprentice."

Naruto frowned and rubbed the slight bruise the high power impact had made.

"You took on Naruto-kun as an apprentice too, Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, I took both of you on as my apprentices. Along with doing a few other things that are going to surprise the heck out of Konoha," Tsunade said with an evil chuckle.

The ANBU looked at each other but no one said a word. They already knew most of what Tsunade had planned and no one on this detail had any disagreement with it

* * *

At the Daimyo's palace, the ANBU waited outside. The Sand Siblings made their own way through the city to the embassy of the Wind Country. They were entitled to stay there due to an agreement between Suna and the Wind daimyo.

It was nearly an hour's wait before Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata and Naruto were called in the see the Daimyo.

The group entered into the audience chamber of the Daimyo and bowed to the middle aged man. Jiraiya stood off to one side with a smirk on his face. The two teens were surprised to see the Toad Sage waiting for them there. They did not forget their own manners and bowed to the ruler of the Fire Country. Hinata did it flawlessly as she had been trained in etiquette since she could walk. Naruto had a harder time and he looked awkward but still he put out his best effort.

"Ah, Tsu-hime, I have all the paperwork you requested signed for you. So, these are the new apprentices?"

Tsunade smiled, "Yes. Neither one knows everything yet but they soon will."

"Well, I would let you have some fun, but those idiots on the Council in Konoha have irritated me. This one is personal." The Daimyo snapped his fingers and a secretary brought up a tray containing a number of scrolls. The Daimyo opened the first one with a deft sureness and a flourish.

"In the matter of Uzumaki Naruto's heritage and inheritance, I find in his favor. He is entitled and ordered to receive his parents' possession. He is to have title of all lands and properties outside of Konoha transferred to his name and the market value paid for all of his parents' lands and properties within Konoha from Konoha's funds immediately upon receipt of this judgment. Those funds shall be transferred out of Konoha's possession into a financial institution of his choosing" The ruler pulled out his seal and stamped it on the document, making the judgment legally binding.

The Daimyo set aside the first document and picked up a second. "I recognize the promotions of Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata as well as their appointments as apprentice to Senju Tsunade." He stamped that one and moved to the next scroll, marking each with his seal and giving the documents full force of his position behind them.

"I authorize and order the payment of all of Senju Tsunade's gambling debts from the funds of Konohagakure."

"I authorize Senju Tsunade and her apprentices to be free from any ties or obligations to Konohagakure should she step down from her post as Godaime Hokage."

"I accept the resignation of Senju Tsunade from her post as Godaime Hokage."

"I authorize the appointment of Jiraiya, the Toad Sage as Rokudaime Hokage in place of Senju Tsunade. He shall rule with full power immediately upon assuming the title."

"With my seal upon these documents, even the so called Council of Konoha cannot override them without committing treason," the Daimyo chuckled. Naruto was stunned by what he had seen and heard accomplished in a few short minutes and stamps by the Daimyo.

"Now, on the last thing you asked about, Tsu-hime. Shall we take care of it now?" the Daimyo asked.

Tsunade bowed to the feudal lord of the country and spoke clearly. "I defer to your judgment on this matter, Daimyo-sama."

The man smiled and waved his hand to either side of the hall. "Everything for it is ready."

Jiraiya walked up to Naruto and tugged him towards a side room the Daimyo had gestured to.

"Let's go, gaki. You need to get changed."

Naruto was dragged along while he was still confused and silent.

Shizune was leading Hinata off to a doorway on the other side of the hall as well.

Once the teens were gone, Tsunade pulled out a scroll and unsealed a small chest. "Your payment as agreed upon."

The Daimyo smiled and peeked into the chest. His smiled seemed to grow larger as he looked over the contents of the small chest as he nodded. With a gesture, he instructed Tsunade to stand to one side of his throne. He placed the chest next to his throne and signaled to his majordomo.

"Bring the others in," he commanded.

The majordomo ushered in a number of people who were all looking confused. The remaining members of Team 7 and Team 8, Team 10, Team Guy along with their sensei. Ichiraku Teuchi and Ayame, Iruka, the Konohamaru Corps, the clan leaders of the Rookie Nine genin and several Hyuuga elders were soon waiting in the hall before the Daimyo. They had been summoned to the capital the previous day. Tsunade taking several days to take the trip had been so the Daimyo could make final preparations for this very gathering.

Fifteen minutes after their entry, Jiraiya led Naruto back in wearing an elaborate kimono and had managed to get Naruto's hair slicked back flat with large amounts of hair gel. He deftly dragged Naruto up to the dais before the Daimyo. Everyone began talking among themselves seeing that.

More minutes dragged by until Shizune signaled from her door. The majordomo clapped for silence. Shizune led in Hinata dressed in an elaborate white wedding kimono. She could not see where she was going because the head piece veil hung low; hiding her face and blocking her vision. The girl just followed Shizune up to the Daimyo.

The daimyo grinned expansively and opened his arms. "It is rare that I get to preside over an occasion such as this. Arranged marriages are normally political affairs and while this one is on part such a match, it is also one I am glad to be a part of. As both parties have previously agreed, I announce their arrangement completed."

"Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure and Uzumaki Kushina, last member of the royal house of Land of Whirlpool and my own dear cousin, I present your bride, Hyuuga Hinata, daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi, leader of the Hyuuga Clan and Hyuuga Tsuki his wife. Greet each other for the first time as man and wife."

There was a loud thump in the room as Sakura fainted.

Naruto and Hinata had both been shocked by the suddenness of this event. He had been about to protest but when Naruto looked and saw the love her eyes held for him, all of his reservations were cast aside.

Hinata blushed heavily but her white makeup hid most of it.

"Hello my husband," she said in a clear quiet voice.

Naruto stood in silent shock until Jiraiya poked him in the back and he stuttered out, "Hello my wife."

The Daimyo laughed at the shyness of the teens and gestured off to a side hall, "Come, a feast awaits!"

Everyone was led into a large hall where the Daimyo sat after carrying in his small chest.

Jiraiya leaned over to Tsunade, "What's in the box?"

"It was his fee for letting me out of the Hokage job. The first numbered copy of the first printing of every one of your books. The ones that you gave to Sensei," she said with a chuckle.

Jiraiya leaned back his head and laughed.

* * *

Next Chapter: Konoha Learns the Truth.

* * *

Ah, I love shotgun weddings. Don't you?

Edited and reposted January 2011


	2. Konoha Learns The Truth

**Konoha Learns the Truth**

The wedding party the Daimyo threw for Naruto and Hinata was very awkward for many of the guests. The Daimyo knew it would be and he was sending a message to the Council and people of Konoha. He was letting them know that they had messed up and doing it in a fashion that would echo across the land. The genin who knew the couple had no idea how to react to the situation.

Sakura was on the edge of tears once she had awakened from her faint. Her prince turned out to be a toad and the toad was in reality the prince, a son of true royalty.

Ino was looking at everything with starry-eyed lust. She knew she would be getting social capital out of this trip for months back in Konoha. Who cares that Naruto and Hinata just had an arranged marriage? That was incidental information. What she would capitalize on was that SHE was at a party in the Daimyo's palace!

Shikamaru wondered how he had missed that little bit of information on Naruto. His resemblance to the Fourth was so obvious now. He shook his head and muttered that the coming weeks and months would be troublesome.

Choji wondered if the food was as good as it looked. He was short about 3000 calories today.

Shino was quiet.

Kiba was jealous but he knew about Hinata's feeling for Naruto so he grudgingly accepted it. Akamaru barked out his approval for Kiba's actions.

Lee was impressed with Naruto's youth and kept glancing at TenTen.

TenTen ignored Lee and kept glancing at Neji.

Neji thought Hinata was the happiest she had ever been in her life and kept checking his hair.

Sasuke was looking for an excuse to get out of there and break something in his anger and frustration.

Naruto and Hinata sat in a kind of shell-shocked silence and just reacted to everyone that congratulated them. The jonin all understood how arranged marriages and normal marriages worked but this one was not quite one or the other. Kurenai knew there was some serious love involved on the part of Hinata. She was worried that Naruto would have trouble with things. The boy was still suffering from years of being socially isolated.

Jiraiya finally cornered Tsunade again by bringing over a new bottle of sake. He needed some answers and only Tsunade could provide them. Several empty bottles littered the table in front of her already.

"I thought the whole idea of taking the kids with you was to get them away from trouble. You do realize that you just painted a huge target on both of them?" he said.

"Firsht… first of all, I had not intended for the wedding to happen this soon. I was planning on a nice long betrothal that would last until they were 17 or so. The Daimyo decided to pull this one off on me as a condition of my getting out of the Hokage job. He wanted to make a very unshut … unsubtle gesture to those idiots back there that he is very upset with them. I (cough) I did not put him up to the whole pay off my debts thing. He did it to bankrupt the place and bring them back to heel. You do realize that Minato and Kushina's money; Naruto's inheritance; made up a full quarter of Konoha's cash reserves? Thatsh (cough) That's all his now. The boy is loaded. My debts eat up all the rest. As of tomorrow morning, Konoha is broke." Tsunade slurped down another large dish of sake and reached for the bottle again.

Jiraiya was shocked. He knew things would be bad in Konoha but even he did not know that the financial side would be that bad. "It is a good thing we already had the wall fixed," he muttered. "I don't think we have enough cash flow to pay the workers doing inside the village repairs."

"You won't. I added it up already. All the little pet projects of the Council are going bye-bye," Tsunade gave slightly drunken giggle.

"Why, oh why did I let you talk me into this?" Jiraiya said with a shake of his head.

Tsunade giggled drunkenly once more and poked Jiraiya in the chest as she spoke, "Because you made a bet to see my goodies and you LOST." Tsunade laughed as she almost fell backwards. "You don't get it. I might be the Legendary Sucker but when my girls are on the line, I am as lucky as Naruto."

* * *

The party broke up late in the afternoon. The Konoha ninja and civilians left to begin their return trip to the village while Jiraiya stayed behind to talk with the Daimyo. Tsunade did sober up quickly and took Hiashi to the side to let him know he would not be a grandfather any time soon. The Hyuuga leader nodded and left. That was something he knew he was not ready for. Visions of hyperactive blonde Hyuuga were scary.

A servant led them to a nearby hotel. Tsunade and Shizune were given one room and the newlyweds given another. The Slug Princess waited about a half hour before she walked over to the other room. She found both Naruto and Hinata sitting on the bed fully clothed in their wedding outfits and blushing.

"Okay," she began, "this is going to be really interesting from here on out. First of all, you're married now. I had not intended it to be this soon but it happened. We'll deal with it as we go. Both of you are still my apprentices so that part will be easy. I say, you do. Got that?"

Naruto and Hinata both nodded.

"Good, next thing is the sleeping arrangements. The two of you being married actually has made things easier for us wherever we go. We are only going to need two rooms instead of three. When it is time for bed, the pair of you gets into pajamas or loosens your clothing some and sleep. I don't even want to have to deal with the pair of you having sex yet." Tsunade pointed at Hinata, "You are not ready to be a mother yet and you," pointing at Naruto, "are definitely _really_ not ready to be a father yet."

Tsunade was so tempted to laugh, as the pair in front of her could not have had blood anywhere else in their bodies outside of their faces.

"Right now, concentrate on becoming the best of friends. Talk to each other about anything that comes to mind. The rest will follow in time, hopefully after lots of time. But for now, get some rest. We have a long trip ahead of us starting tomorrow and you both have a lot of training ahead of you."

Finishing her talk, Tsunade wandered over to the room she was sharing with Shizune and lay down. She wanted to have another drink but she knew tomorrow would be difficult enough without a bigger hangover.

Hinata and Naruto just continued to sit there after Tsunade left. Finally, Naruto said something, "Scary huh?"

Hinata made a small sound, "Yes."

"It's not what I expected when I thought about getting married," he said quietly.

"What did you think it would be like, Naruto-kun?"

"Um, honestly, I don't know. I … I never actually thought about it. I kind of hoped I would someday. Find someone who wanted me around all the time I mean. Someone that wouldn't hit me like Sakura-chan does."

"I want you around Naruto-kun. I have for a long time," Hinata said barely above a whisper.

After a long pause Naruto asked, "What does a husband do Hinata? I don't have any parents so I was wondering what a husband or a dad does at home. I used to see dads come to the Academy for their kids, sometimes play with them in the park, but that's it."

Hinata looked down and poked her fingers together. "Well, my father would take care of clan business. He would settle disputes between clan members. Sometimes at dinner he would ask my mother what her day was like. Then he would ask Hanabi and me what we learned at the Academy. He would listen and sometimes nod at us. Sometimes he would give us advice on how to handle something we were having trouble with."

"Having someone just listen to you sounds really nice, Hinata." Naruto looked down. "I never had that." Before he could say anything else, he was hit with a huge yawn. "I guess we should get ready to sleep. You can have the bathroom first. Sometimes my team would need to stop on a mission to use them and there would be just one. Sakura hit me once saying always let the girls use it first."

Hinata tried to stifle her own yawn after his and failed, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Shortly after a few trips in and out of the bathroom and a lot of blushing, Naruto and Hinata were both lying on the bed in shorts and t-shirts. It took a few more hours but eventually they fell asleep.

* * *

Tsunade rolled out of bed after several minutes of Shizune prodding her. She had worse hangovers in the past so she was able to function well enough. Shizune chuckled as Tsunade went through her morning routine on automatic. The older apprentice decided to wake Hinata and Naruto to give Tsunade a bit longer to get ready. She peeked into the room and was quickly back to see Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, you need to see this. It's so cute."

Tsunade followed because she knew she would not be able to shut up Shizune any other way. She looked in the see Hinata cutely snuggled up close to Naruto. Shizune had her camera out and took a picture before the kids woke up. Tsunade then called out loudly, "Time to get up!"

Hinata cracked an eye open and almost teleported across the bed. If Tsunade had not expected such a thing she would have fallen over laughing. Both teens dressed quickly.

"First order of business today. We no longer will wear the Leaf symbol of Konoha. You can keep your headbands sealed in a scroll with no bandana attached. That is considered one common way to carry one when not affiliated with that village. I realize it is important to both of you, but with Naruto banished and the three of us given permission to leave, it can be a crime to be caught wearing one. It would also give other villages a reason to attack us without cause."

Naruto sighed and untied his headband from where he had put it only a few minutes before. "Iruka-sensei gave me his. I want to keep it to remember him." Naruto pried the bandana from the plate and set it aside to save. Tsunade smiled as Hinata untied hers from her neck and did the same.

"Now for the fun part of the morning. We have two cartloads of swag to sort and seal into something easier to carry. Jiraiya left me a dozen heavy-duty weapons grade storage scrolls so we should be able to fit everything."

"But wasn't all of that supplies and such? It was all marked medical supplies," Naruto asked.

Tsunade grinned while Shizune looked nervous. "Nope, it was the contents of the Hokage jutsu library stuffed into empty medical supply boxes."

Naruto looked stunned, "You mean like the Forbidden Scroll?"

Tsunade nodded. "That was one of them, Most are not that big so we were able to stuff in a few hundred of all kinds. All of the jutsu are C level or higher. We also took a few Hyuuga clan taijutsu technique scrolls with Hiashi's permission. Those are blood sealed so only Hinata can open them."

Naruto was nearly drooling at hearing hundreds of jutsu scrolls C level or higher. "Can I start reading them, baa-chan?"

Tsunade flicked Naruto on the forehead and he slammed back into the wall. "No gaki, you have a long way to go before you can get to read these scrolls. You have to earn that right through training. Carry all the boxes up here and we can get sorting. Once we get everything sorted, we head on out to Wind embassy then on to the Sand village. We would not want to be called liars. I did say we were heading that way."

Naruto put his hands together in his favorite jutsu and a dozen shadow clones appeared. He looked at Tsunade, "How do we sort them?"

* * *

With a dozen shadow clones doing the heavy lifting, Tsunade and Shizune managed to get the jutsu scrolls sealed away into storage scrolls in less than two hours. Tsunade and Shizune each put most of the scrolls in their packs while Hinata and Naruto each received one to carry. Naruto got the wind jutsu and Hinata got the water jutsu. Tsunade planned it like that since they had so few wind jutsu and Naruto would be sure to try to peek if he could. Tsunade kept the forbidden jutsu, the summoning contracts and a few loose scrolls on sealing. Shizune got the fire, lightning and earth jutsu.

Once everything was packed and ready to go, Tsunade led them off toward the Wind Country embassy to meet up with the Sand Siblings to make the trip to Suna. However outside the hotel, they were surprised to find one of the ANBU from their journey to the capitol.

"Cat, what are you still doing here?" Tsunade asked. "You were supposed to return to Konoha with Jiraiya last night."

"I asked Jiraiya-sama to be released from ANBU to serve as an extra teacher and guard for your apprentices," Cat said. "He said if you agree then I am released otherwise to return. I beg you to allow me to remain with you. I have a reason for asking it."

"Take off you mask, Cat. Let me see your face when you tell me your reason."

Cat removed her mask to show the face of a woman in her early twenties. The first things Tsunade noticed were the dark circles under her eyes. "My name is Uzuki Yuugao. My lover Hayate was killed shortly before the Invasion by Sound. Since then, I have had trouble sleeping when in Konoha. I sleep well outside of Konoha but my assignment as one of your guards kept me there."

"Is your sleep troubled because of his loss or some other reason?" Tsunade asked.

Yuugao hung her head, "It is mainly from a … lack of him. Just that being in Konoha reminds me that he is not there anymore."

Tsunade recognized the same pain she had run from for a long time. She had spent decades running fro her own pain. But she had no purpose during her wanderings. With Yuugao, she could at least give the woman a purpose to her life outside of pure duty to Konoha. In time the woman would recover and find a new goal but another reason to get up in the morning was important. "Naruto, Hinata, you have an additional instructor in the ninja arts. You will address her as Yuugao-sensei."

Looking back to Yuugao Tsunade said, "We do not wear anything with the symbol of Konoha on anything. We might be born there and have family there, but we do not represent it any longer."

Yuugao nodded in understanding. "I will go purchase a change of clothing and meet you at the Wind embassy." She then turned and headed for the merchant district.

* * *

Jiraiya was back in Konoha ahead of everyone else who had attended the wedding due to his toad summons. He went to the bank with the needed transfers ready to go. The bank manager fell over himself to help once he saw the seal of the Daimyo and that Jiraiya was acting on his behalf. The transfer of the funds due to Naruto went easily enough. They had been sent to an account in another bank so the name never flashed up to the banker. The problems began when the transfers for Tsunade's debts were nearing completion.

"Jiraiya-sama, there is no more money left in the primary account," the bank manager told him.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean there is no money left? According to the Hokage's books there should be enough to do all of those transfers."

The bank manager began to look nervous, "Some of the main account's funds had been moved into other accounts for the discretionary use of the Council. I was told that the Hokage's office was aware of this. I have valid transfer orders on file signed by the Council before Tsunade-sama took office."

"If the Hokage's office did not make them, they are not valid. You will correct these 'accounting mistakes' immediately and make the transfers as the Daimyo ordered. You do not want to have to explain to him WHY you could not follow his instructions."

The bank manager consulted with a teller and returned looking very nervous. "Jiraiya-sama, our records show that not all the funds transferred remain in the discretionary accounts."

Jiraiya rubbed his temples, "How much of the money is missing?"

"All of it, Jiraiya-sama," the manger said trying not to cringe.

"Do you have records of who withdrew the money?" Jiraiya said in a cold voice.

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama," the manager meekly replied.

"Fine, then here is what you will do. You will freeze the accounts of everyone who had received these 'discretionary transfers' from the main village account. Then you will go into any personal accounts held by the ones who received the money and recover it from there. Those accounts will remain frozen until an auditor from the Daimyo arrives to conduct an investigation. You will furnish the names of all those people involved to the ANBU operative that will return here in one hour. Do not forget, your butt is on the line here. Don't cover anyone else's," Jiraiya hissed.

Jiraiya walked out of the bank and frowned as he walked back to the Hokage Tower. He wondered how the Council was going to react when they found out a few things; that they banished the son of their hero and that they drove the Hokage to up and leave. He would not even have to tell anyone. He would let the rumor mill take care of all of that for him. He would just maintain the fiction that Tsunade was on a diplomatic mission to Sand for a couple of weeks before pulling out the last few letters the Daimyo signed.

He took the time to pull out one of his notebooks and put down a few ideas for a concept book, love and romance as the brave hero tries to foil the plots of power mongers. A title would follow eventually but for now, life was good fiction all on its own.

* * *

The first groups of ninja returned from the capitol at mid morning. They were the active teams; Team 7, Team 8, Team 10, Team Guy as well as the parents of those genin. They had left the capital the night before and stopped at a small outpost maintained by the village at the halfway point. The Hyuuga elders along with Hiashi and a still not completely recovered Neji traveled slower with the Ichiraku and would not arrive until near sunset.

Kakashi told Sakura and Sasuke to meet him at the normal training location at once. Asuma allowed his team to have the day off since Choji was not allowed on active duty just yet. Kurenai did the same for Team 8 because her team was currently short-handed. Guy and Lee dragged Tenten off to the training ground with shouts of youth.

The other genin scattered while the jonin parents and remaining teachers moved as a group to a bar to discuss things.

"I never dreamed that Naruto was Minato-sama's son. But knowing about it now, it is so obvious if you looked at him. I knew the Yondaime was seeing Kushina-chan but she never said anything about being a noble or related to the Daimyo," Kurenai said over a dish of sake. She had been friends with the red headed woman. During her days as a genin she had been assigned to assist the pregnant woman often on D-rank missions of shopping and cleaning house. Kushina had told Kurenai to 'stop with the sama already' and just to call her 'chan' instead like any other friend.

Inoichi sighed, "I should have seen it. I mean Naruto was not a Yamanaka and how many other blondes were there in Konoha at the time?"

The bartender perked up hearing the names mentioned. "What was that?"

Asuma looked at the bartender, "Might as well tell you since it will be known widely soon enough. Yesterday, the Daimyo decided to finish the betrothal contract Hyuuga Hinata was put into and marry her to her betrothed. Tsunade-sama was the broker for it. Well, it turns out that the son of a Kage Hinata was going to be married to is none other than Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, last member of the royal house of the Land of Whirlpool."

The bartender was stunned and it took the sound of the glass he dropped to shake him from it.

"The demon brat …," he stopped talking at hearing the sound of a half dozen kunai being pulled out, "Um, the blonde kid that got banished was the SON of the Fourth?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Shikaku muttered out. "It is very troublesome as well."

"Why troublesome?" Choza asked.

"By being banished, he is essentially a free agent now. He could go join any village or even start one of his own and Konoha could have nothing to say about that. Imagine what would happen if Iwa recruits him? The Son of the Fourth Hokage would be a huge business opportunity for whomever he ends up joining," Shikaku explained.

"Wait, why would Iwa want the son of the man who destroyed half their military to join them?" the bartender protested.

"Two reasons. First, it makes Konoha look stupid for throwing out the son of their greatest hero like trash. Second, because of his mother. It will also give him a lot of protection from foreign shinobi due to his heritage. Uzumaki is related to more than half the royal houses in the Elemental countries. The Fire Daimyo is closest to him in relation, first cousins once removed. The rest are further out but still, a relative who is also the son of a Kage is someone to be noticed. Konoha did not and has lost that opportunity. He would have to come back willingly and I highly doubt he would now. Very troublesome," Shikaku finished and just drank after his long monologue.

* * *

Across town at the headquarters of the Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club, Ino was spilling her tale.

"I was THERE I tell you. Hinata got married to Uzumaki Naruto yesterday. The loser is the _son_ of the Fourth! The Daimyo announced it to everyone! His mom was the Daimyo's first cousin!" she chastised her fellow members

No one can spread rumors faster than teenage girls. By lunchtime, more than half the civilians in Konoha knew about the marriage and Naruto's status as son of the Fourth Hokage. The civilian members of Konoha's Council were very worried right now. When the wife of one of them came home after having her purchases denied, their worry turned to panic.

* * *

Danzo sat back in his hideaway. He knew from the beginning that voting to banish the Container was a mistake. He knew that the boy was not a danger but he could not convince the fools without exposing himself and Root. The Container close at hand was a prize to whoever had control of him. He would have to find another way to gain power for Konoha. He could let the Daimyo clear out a few of the decayed branches for him. He was safe.

* * *

Kakashi glared at Sasuke and Sakura. The kunoichi he could forgive. She was just being an idiot. She still had potential. Sasuke on the other hand was trash in his eyes. He had used several killing attacks on a teammate who was only fighting to subdue him. No matter what his excuse, that was not forgivable. The boy had been officially cleared so the jonin could not drop the boy from his squad, yet.

"Today, we are going to work on stamina. I talked to Guy on the way back and he agreed to lend me some of Lee's weights. He passed one set to Sakura and showed her how to put them on. He then gave a much larger and heavier set to Sasuke.

"How is this supposed to get me stronger?" Sasuke complained. He crossed his arms as he thought, 'I need to train my eyes to unlock the last level of my bloodline. I refused to do it Itachi's way so I need to find another way. This doesn't help.'

Kakashi smiled at Sasuke, "This training will make you a lot stronger. Nice big strong muscles and lots of stamina once you complete it. It is something that requires a lot of strength and ability, but no bloodline to accomplish." Kakashi dropped the smile and looked hard at Sasuke, "The only way to complete this training is through hard work and effort, something you're sorely lacking experience in lately."

"Now, to begin, both of you are going to do laps around this training area."

"How many times Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Until I say you're done," Kakashi said with an evil smile.

* * *

Next Chapter: Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle

* * *

The setup is done. Action begins next chapter.

Edited and Reposted January 2011


	3. Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle

**Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle**

The party of four former members of Konohagakure walked up to the embassy of the Wind Country in the capital city of the Fire Country. Tsunade had arranged for the carts they had taken from Konoha to be used to transport actual medical supplies to Suna. They however would be traveling separately.

The guards bowed properly when the quartet stopped. The children of the late Kazekage had told the guards that the group would be arriving at some point.

"Welcome, Tsunade-sama. Temari-sama informed us you would be arriving today with your party. You are welcome to enter and we shall have someone inform Temari-sama," one guard said.

Tsunade smiled and bowed back saying, "We have one more in our party arriving shortly. She had to do some last minute shopping. She has long purple hair and goes by the name Yuugao."

"I will await her arrival, Tsunade-sama," the guard replied as he left them in.

"Wow, Baa-chan, that guy was practically kissing your butt," Naruto said in a low voice once they were inside.

"I am highly regarded for my medical abilities, gaki. You should be proud to be my apprentice and show proper respect," Tsunade said back with a smirk.

Naruto grinned, "That was proper respect, for me."

Tsunade responded to that by flicking her finger into Naruto's forehead and knocking him backwards across the street into a brick wall.

Shizune and Hinata both chuckled.

* * *

Jiraiya called together the Council in the early afternoon. He held the proxy vote for the Hokage until he revealed the fact that Tsunade had stepped down. This allowed him to chair the meeting and decide its discussion. A few Council members seemed quite worried while the elder Ino-Shika-Cho trio looked to be trying to sit up straight as they had come directly from the bar. Danzo seemed quite smug, as his agents had reported to him all the morning's activity in Konoha. He had kept his hands off the village's money preferring payments from sources other than simple and very traceable embezzlement.

Jiraiya smiled broadly and looked at the assembled elders. "The Daimyo has exercised his right to use funds of Konoha as he sees fit to pay off a few items. Namely, he has moved the Namikaze estate funds to a bank of his choosing. It is one in the capital and under his personal control. He also has made the village pay off the outstanding debts of Hokage-sama."

"This led to a problem as the funds were not sufficient to pay those debts. Investigating the books, we found that there was a difference in the banks records and those of the Hokage's office. The Daimyo's representative has called for an auditor to go over the bank records to explain why the bank's records do not match the Hokage's books. Any persons involved will have their accounts frozen until the auditor has completed the investigation."

"You might have noticed that three Council members are missing? It seems they did not have enough to return the funds they 'borrowed' from the village account. They are on their way to the capital now and will be explaining their reasons directly to the Daimyo."

The Councilors began looking at each other until Jiraiya held up his hand. A few voices whispered back and forth as they were appalled at what was done. It was inconceivable to them that the Daimyo would interfere in the running of Konoha.

"The Daimyo is well within his legal rights to do so as the charter of Konoha states. He prefers to leave things alone but this time he felt that it was something he needed to address personally. He felt that after hearing about how the son of his dear cousin lived destitute within these walls for thirteen years and no one aided him. It was his duty as a relative to find out what was going on with the boy's inheritance," Jiraiya said smugly.

This caused an outburst from the civilian Councilors. Many were shouting disbelief at what Jiraiya was saying. One elderly woman stood up, "Jiraiya, to whom are you referring? There are no relations to the Daimyo living within Konoha. We would have known if there were," she said.

Jiraiya put on a look of shock. He just stared at the woman for a full minute. Then he turned to look around the table before focusing on Inoichi. The blonde man was sitting with his head on the table. The blonde man was still very drunk and moving into a hangover. Jiraiya called out to him, "Inoichi, you need to reprimand your daughter. Ino has been back in town for five hours already and someone has not heard the gossip."

Inoichi peeked up with one eye before just lifting his arm up in the air and raising his thumb, "Got it."

Jiraiya looked back to the woman, "Madam Councilor, the person in question is no longer within Konoha. This body decided to throw him out. The boy's name is Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, the last member of the royal house of the Land of Whirlpool. We just got back from his wedding to Hyuuga Hinata yesterday."

The silence within the room was so complete they could hear the bugs inside Shibi moving about.

Choza broke the silence by laughing long and loud, "And you idiots threw him out! The son of the Fourth and you threw him out!"

Jiraiya held up his hand for silence once more. "Also, since the Daimyo ordered the payment of Hokage-sama's debts from Konoha funds, we are going to be very tight for cash for the foreseeable future. We need to make a choice. We can pay the ninja or we can pay the workers making repairs in Konoha. But we cannot pay both."

"Surely the missions we get are enough to pay for everything, Jiraiya. The ninja only get a small percentage of each mission's funds as payment," one Councilor said.

"The ninja on that particular mission, yes. But the people on duty as guards, teachers, administrators, and ANBU need to be paid as well. Their pay comes from the pool of money that missions bring in," Jiraiya countered.

Several Councilors were upset at this turn of events. Things should be getting better for them, not worse. Without the workers remodeling their homes being paid by the village they would have to pay the people out of their own pockets for their labor. The ones who had their bank accounts frozen would be unable to do even that much. Even without asking each other, all came to the same conclusion. This was the Brat's fault.

* * *

Tsunade relaxed as the last details of the medical shipment to Suna were being finalized. Naruto and Hinata were actually kneeling properly behind her under the observation of Shizune. Hinata was composed and was even able to overcome her nervousness and stutter. Her familiarity with the type of setting allowed her to keep calm and control herself.

Naruto on the other hand needed a lot more help. Even so, it had only taken another flick to the forehead to make Naruto behave. The second finger shaped bruise was still quite visible on his forehead. Hinata sat less than a hand's width distance beside him and talked quietly into his ear.

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't upset Tsunade-sensei like that. She did ask you once to sit quietly before she was forced to discipline you," she said in comforting tones.

Naruto just grumped as Hinata was on the Old Hag's side in this. He was _bored_ just sitting and waiting. He could at least be allowed to read a jutsu scroll while they sat around. Finally, the time came when they could talk quietly among themselves. "But why do we have to sit here like this while she does everything? Why do we have to just sit and do nothing?" he complained in a whisper.

"By us being here as Tsunade's apprentices, we show the Wind Country respect," Hinata tried to explain.

"But I don't even know this guy. How can I respect someone I don't even know?" Naruto said.

"There are many levels and types of respect, Naruto-kun. By being here, we are showing respect to their country. We may not like the person we are dealing with but our actions show that we respect the authority of the country that person is from has given him. What you show Tsunade-sensei might pass as respect from your view but most people see it as very rude and demeaning," she said in a quiet voice.

Naruto paled slightly. "I wasn't meaning to be rude to her, really I wasn't!"

Hinata smiled slightly, "I know Naruto-kun. No one taught you any better in the past but I can help you if you let me."

Naruto saw the honesty in Hinata's eyes and smiled a small honest smile of gratitude. Hinata blushed lightly in response but with a smile of her own.

Shizune was miffed that this cute scene was being wasted in an area with no cameras allowed.

The diplomat nodded as the last of the papers were signed and taken away. The man excused himself and left the room. Gaara and his siblings entered shortly after that. All three of them looked stern but they sat across from the former Konoha group. Tsunade turned and spoke to Hinata.

"Hinata, come up next to me for this. It is important for you to know everything. We cannot keep a secret of this importance from you. It concerns the true reasons for us leaving Konoha."

Naruto paled slightly but Shizune put her hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him.

Hinata rose gracefully and moved up to Tsunade and sat facing her.

"Hinata, on October 10, thirteen years ago, the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked Konoha. It was stopped by the efforts of the Yondaime Hokage. You know that part from school but it is not the entire truth. The entire truth is that he could not destroy a great beast, only contain one. He along with his wife were forced to seal the beast into a child who had been born that very day; his own son"

Hinata turned to look at Naruto. He looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes and lowering his head.

"For many years, the people in Konoha who knew about this fact were forbidden from speaking of it to the young people who did not know. However, this did not help Naruto. People mistreated him in spite of the Yondaime's desire to see Naruto as a hero and protector."

"The Sandaime would not allow people to abuse the boy so the people who hate with no reason did something just as callus. They shunned him and would not even acknowledge his existence. Trees were given more notice than Naruto was. He grew up alone and unwanted by most of Konoha."

"In his battle to stop Uchiha Sasuke from defecting to Sound, Naruto was forced to tap into the power of the beast to defeat the runaway. That is why he was banished from Konoha. The interim Council still holds sway over some things in Konoha. It was too early in my term as Hokage and their power still overrode my own. I could not prevent his being sent away. But I would not sit by while the very person who convinced me to return was forced to leave. So we have left as well; myself, Shizune and now you and Yuugao with us."

Tonton squealed out her displeasure at being left out.

Tsunade smiled at her precious pig, "Yes, and Tonton as well. The Daimyo decided that he had enough of the power mongers in Konoha trying to expand into regions that are his by right. He might have been a kind and jovial fellow when you met him but he has a will of steel when it comes to people who cross him. His family he treats like family, his friends he treats like friends and his enemies get treated as enemies. Never cross the line to being his enemy. You would not live long if you did."

"I am sure you have some more questions for Naruto. Everyone here already knew his secret except for you. I felt it best that you know why he is looked down upon," Tsunade finished.

Hinata looked over at her husband. The simple explanation answered so much of what she had seen over her years of spying on Naruto. She knew he was not a monster even though some people had called him that. He was a scared and lonely boy who wanted attention. She stood and walked back to Naruto and kneeled in front of him. He looked up and she could see the pain in his eyes. She could forever break his will with a single hateful word right now if she simply uttered it.

She leaned forward and embraced Naruto tightly. It took a few moments but he slowly lifted his arms and hugged her back. Neither one moved from that position for several minutes until she finally let go and sat back.

"All of this time people could not see you, Naruto. They only saw was what you protected us from. I saw you for so long and I am glad that you never gave up," she whispered.

Naruto smiled shakily.

"Does it hurt having the Kyuubi trapped inside of you?" she asked pointing to his stomach.

"No, not really," he replied. "For most of my life I never knew it was even inside of me. It just gives me a lot of energy and heals me a lot faster than most people."

"Can it get out?" Hinata asked a fairly obvious question but one she was worried about.

"It tries to since it woke up after I first used its power. It tries to talk to me, to convince me that it would be a good thing to release it. But I won't let it let out," Naruto said firmly.

"But you could, if you wanted to?" Hinata pressed.

Naruto bit his lip and looked down. This was the hardest part of all.

"If I wanted to … yes … yes I could," he admitted.

Gaara spoke up next. "He is a stronger person than I ever was, Hinata-san. Like him, I was sacrificed to be the holder of a great beast. I had the Sand Spirit, Shukaku, the Ichibi sealed within me as I was born. But I listened to its whispers and grew to hate other people. But where Naruto's father sealed his monster with intent to keep it confined, my father sealed Shukaku inside of me to be a weapon. I have done many evil things before I met Naruto. We met in battle in the invasion during the Chunin Exams and he defeated me. He is the only person ever to do that. In spite of his burden, he never gave in to hatred like I did and he has shown me a better way. Shukaku only has as much power over me as I let it have now."

Hinata was shocked. She had been unconscious during the battle but stories had floated around about massive damage to the forest outside of the village. Many civilians gave the Uchiha credit but anyone who was a ninja gave credit to Naruto. The power of the battle must have been immense and now the boys were good friends. But it also explained her encounter with the red head in the Forest of Death.

Hinata smiled to Gaara who only looked back with a placid stare.

* * *

Once all the ritual niceties were done and the group could leave the Wind Country embassy with the Sand Siblings, Naruto was finally able to relax. Tsunade led the group down the road with Shizune at her heel carrying Tonton. Kankuro and Temari walked next. Gaara followed behind them with Naruto and Hinata. Yuugao followed at the rear of the group. Naruto was used to traveling a lot faster than the walking speed and soon was close to making a scene.

Hinata stroked his arm lightly to calm him down. Yuugao closed in behind him and said quietly, "We need to move at a civilian pace in areas we can be seen. We do not want every person passing to know all of us are ninja at first glance. Plus Tsunade is still seen as the Hokage of Konoha so her rushing about would not be taken well right now."

Naruto was about to try to complain again when Yuugao continued, "You also need to look at how your actions affect Hinata, Naruto. She is your wife now and you must keep that in mind before you go doing something rash. Being outspoken is one thing but acting a fool in public where she can be embarrassed is something else entirely."

Naruto paled slightly. He never really considered that point. He was used to just acting out whenever he felt like for the attention it got him; good or bad. Now being married, he had another person to consider beyond his own well-being. He peeked over at Hinata. He might not love her yet but she was his friend and he cared enough that the thought of embarrassing her was not a pleasant one.

Tsunade smiled at the gentle touch of Yuugao on defusing a potential situation while teaching Naruto something at the same time. Yuugao fell back slightly and left Naruto to think about things after that. She noticed him thinking and felt the lesson would be learned best if he thought it over rather than beating it into the boy.

It took the group over two hours of walking to get out of the city and into the outskirts. The forests of the Land of Fire could be seen past the small outlying towns and fields. Naruto felt better being out of the confines of the capital. He could tell the guards had been watching him. Every so often Hinata would smile shyly at him and his heart would flutter. He was not sure about being married being a good or a bad thing yet. He needed time to think over the events of the past few days.

He had family who died the day he was born and not just ninja parents either but to the Fourth Hokage and a real princess for parents. That made him royalty. The Daimyo was his mom's cousin. He was now rich after having to scrape for every bit of cash. Ok, Tsunade was handling the money right now but it was still his. It was a lot to take in all at once.

He would have kept thinking but Tsunade called a halt once the group reached the edge of the forest. Shizune put down Tonton. The dark haired apprentice whispered a few words the pig. Tonton then ran off into the nearby trees. The pig returned and dropped some acorns near Shizune. The small pig ran back and forth into various places around the path and built up an impressive pile over the course of ten minutes. Naruto just looked at Hinata and shrugged his shoulders.

Tsunade turned to her two newest apprentices and got an evil look on her face. "Time to start training, kids. You might not think so but both of you have lousy chakra control. It is nowhere near what is needed to do medical jutsu. Hinata is likely much better with her control but her reserves are far too low right now. Since we cannot stop for hours at a time to train, you will do control exercises as we walk."

Tsunade pointed at the pile of acorns. "Those will be your training tools. By the time I am done with this stage of your training you will both hate acorns with a passion. To begin you will hold acorns on the back of your hands with chakra as we walk. This might not seem like a demanding exercise but don't let it fool you. It requires the amount of concentration and control needed to perform a beginner medical jutsu. You have to hold them in place for a half hour at a time without it falling off."

The Sannin knelt and took a fistful in either hand and held them out to each of her new apprentices. Tonton squealed happily when Tsunade nudged the remaining pile toward her and began to feast.

Hinata just nodded her head and took the acorns Tsunade held out. She placed a seed on the backs of either hand and lowered them to her sides. The acorns stuck as if glued there.

Naruto grinned as he thought the exercise would be easy. He placed one acorn on the back of his hand. He sent some chakra into his hand and the acorn immediately shot off and arced out of sight.

Shizune smiled in her normal way at Naruto. "This is like the tree walked exercise but you need much finer pinpoint control. You flooded your hand with too much chakra and the acorn was repulsed. Just like in the tree walking when you apply too much chakra, you are pushed off the tree."

Naruto nodded slowly as he understood that part of it. He grumbled as he realized this would be a long afternoon.

* * *

Two days passed as the small party made their way slowly through the forests of Fire Country. Naruto finally was able to get an acorn to stick to his hand for a total of ten seconds at one point. He was frustrated by his failures but he persistently kept at it. Hinata had mastered the exercise on the first attempt.

In time, the forest thinned and finally disappeared into open range that got drier as they walked. They crossed the border to Wind Country at some point but the only thing to mark it was a line of posts every quarter mile or so. No guards challenged them but they did notice signs of border patrol ninja nearby. Their route became less straight as the towns were built closer to sources of water. Naruto took a look at the map and saw that the next day they would be making a large detour to the north almost to the path the between Konoha and Suna.

The blonde did not want to bother Tsunade since she had given him another forehead flick the day before. He asked Shizune about their course. "Shizune, how come we are traveling so far around this part on the map? It will take days to just walk around it"

Shizune looked at the paper. "The open sand desert starts right in that area. There are few places to get water in that area anymore. The main traffic route goes around the sand on the open range because it has access to water and makes walking easier."

"But there used to be stuff there? I saw a few old signs pointing in that direction and there is even a symbol on it for a town right there." Naruto pointed at the map and if you looked closely you could see an erased mark for a town.

"The sand swallowed it up a long time ago. It was left behind in this area over 50 years ago when some wind users from Suna subdued the Shukaku. The battle extended the desert sands more than 20 miles from its previous point. It wiped entire towns off the map," Shizune said in a low voice.

Gaara heard it anyhow. He tilted his head sideways as if listening. "Yes, that is correct, Shizune. He is complaining about it heavily once you mentioned it. He says he killed over 100 ninja, all jonin level but Suna records only show that 20 died, mainly chunin. The mark on the map is from an old castle town that the sand engulfed during the battle. It had been a major caravan stop as it had extensive fresh water springs and massive cisterns had been built for additional water storage."

Temari spoke up. "It is avoided now because of the land is considered cursed. Not to mention that there is over one hundred feet of loose sand over all the springs and for miles around. It would take too much effort to dig through the sands and the water table is not high enough to let the water form an oasis."

Naruto was grinning as he got a thought. Tsunade knew it would be trouble.

"Well, since we have time to kill by just walking and nowhere to be, how about we go looking for this place? A castle town means it had a treasury and all that stuff just lying around," Naruto said in a devious voice. He hit Tsunade in one of her weak spots. She had a mild case of greed as her gambling debts had showed. The lure of free money was not that easy to pass up.

Tsunade feigned a huff, "Even if we find anything, the Wind daimyo would claim it as his."

Temari had been bitten by the urge to check this place out as well. "Actually, the daimyo has an open reward to anyone who can recover the local treasury for him. The treasury itself is to be returned intact but the rest of the town becomes the property of the people who recover it."

Shizune tried to be the voice of reason. "But if it is so valuable, why hasn't Suna tried to recover it for itself?"

Temari answered, "Because people feel the place is cursed. Do not forget many people of the Wind Country are scared of Shukaku even though it is sealed up. No one wants to be the person who disturbs its last resting place. Many consider it grave robbing in spite of the fact that the majority of the people had fled the town prior to the battle."

"However, I would like to visit the place. I am being drawn to it for some reason. Skukaku is not so pleased with my decision but that just makes my desire to go there increase," Gaara went silent after that.

Shizune huffed as she looked for support to not go on this adventure. Hinata had stood shyly off to one side so Shizune appealed to her. "Hinata, it could be dangerous. Can't you talk Naruto out of this?"

Hinata found herself the center of attention and blushed slightly before answering. "Well, we are all trained ninja and the sand is not really an issue for us. It would be exciting and if it is something we cannot handle, we can just turn around and come back. Plus Gaara-san can control sand and he has the Shukaku sealed inside of him so it would not really be disturbing its resting place."

Tsunade thought about it for a few minutes. No matter what, they didn't have anywhere to be for nearly a week. The route across the sand wouldn't be a problem once Naruto and Hinata got the idea on sand walking with chakra. They would even save nearly three days off their trip by taking the route past the old town. Poking around the ruins for a day would still leave them ahead. Water would not be a problem if Gaara could move enough sand for her to pull some up with a jutsu.

"I say we check it out," Tsunade said at last.

* * *

The trip was easier than they had anticipated. The dunes rose up on either side of their path but the Sand Siblings showed the former Leaf ninja the best ways to climb them when needed. Naruto and Hinata took the early part of the sand to master Sand Walking technique. The skill needed was somewhere in difficulty between tree running and water walking. The group made better time once the technique was mastered and the managed to reach the site of the buried town near dusk.

Gaara became worried when the consistency of the sand in the region changed. It became more like dust than true sand but the group had adjusted easily. Kankuro spotted a stick in the sand to one side and the ninja walked over to investigate. The 'stick' turned out to the the flagpole at the top of the buried castle. They had arrived.

* * *

Next Chapter: Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle, Part 2

Edited and Reposted January 2011


	4. Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle Part 2

**Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle, Part 2**

_The trip was easier than they had anticipated. The dunes rose up on either side of their path but the Sand Siblings showed the former Leaf ninja the best ways to climb them when needed. Naruto and Hinata took the early part of the sand to master Sand Walking technique. The skill needed was somewhere between tree running and water walking. The group made better time once the technique was mastered and the managed to reach the site of the buried town near dusk._

_Gaara became worried when the consistency of the sand in the region changed. It became more like dust than true sand but the group had adjusted easily. Kankuro spotted a stick in the sand to one side and the ninja walked over to investigate. The 'stick' turned out to the flagpole at the top of the buried castle. They had arrived._

The party of ninja all grinned. It seems the buried town was directly below them. Naruto cheered and started to dig at the base of the flagpole.

"Naruto, knock it off," Tsunade commanded. "There are better ways than that to dig. Besides, this sand is more like powder or dust than the stuff we were walking on to get here. We need to be careful."

Naruto pouted but listened to the former Hokage.

Shizune looked around but could see nothing else but the sand surrounding them. Nothing was growing in this part of the desert. It seemed strange to her mind because until the sand changed there had been a slight bit of life. She squatted down to check the sand and found it to be light and airy. If the team had not been using chakra to sand walk they surely would have fallen into it and suffocated.

Tsunade watched Shizune think and asked, "What's wrong, Shizune?"

"Well, Tsunade-sama. You did notice how the desert changed a few miles back?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade nodded and motioned for her apprentice to continue.

"The lightness of what we are walking on won't support the weight of someone who doesn't use chakra. That would explain the lack of civilians returning from this place. But it doesn't quite feel like sand to the touch," Shizune explained.

Gaara knelt down and touched the ground. "She is correct," he said after focusing some chakra directly into it. "This is not exactly sand. My chakra has trouble penetrating it like the sand I keep as my gourd. If feels familiar somehow and Shukaku is screaming at me to leave this place."

Before anyone else could say anything, a ripple moved under the sand.

Naruto felt his fear of ghosts rise up and he shivered. "Maybe this place is haunted by the spirits of the people who died here," he whispered.

Tsunade chuckled. "Most of the people were evacuated, Naruto. There are no ghosts here."

Naruto pointed to the far side of the flagpole he stood next to. "Then what is that?" he said in a panicked voice as the dust sand slid off of a lump that had risen up.

The layer over it fell away to reveal a familiar head made of sand looking at the group of ninja.

"Is that Shukaku?" Temari said in a low voice.

"No," Gaara replied. "Its one of Shukaku's children."

* * *

(During the trip to the hidden castle)

Kakashi stood on the edge of the training field and glared at his remaining students. Sakura had collapsed at some point but was now crawling along the ground. Sasuke continued to move upright but at a snail's pace.

"All right, you two are done for today. Same time tomorrow," he said in a tone that would accept no argument.

"How does … this … make me stronger?" Sasuke panted out.

"It makes you physically stronger, Sasuke. Prior to your little escapade with the Sound ninja, you were physically the weakest boy in your class year in spite of your standing as Rookie of the Year. Even Shikamaru had more physical strength and stamina than you did. Look at the people who got sent after you. They ran down jonin level opponents and fought them; in nearly every case beating them. Naruto ran the longest and fought you after running for more than a day and whether you wish to believe it or not, he beat you into the ground. If his mission had been to simply kill you, you would be dead right now. You won that fight because he was fighting tired and attempting to capture you while you fought to kill him," Kakashi said with no kindness in his voice.

"I defeated him!" Sasuke managed to yell out. "I …" Sasuke managed to stop himself. He had nearly admitted the truth of what happened in the Valley of the End to Kakashi.

Kakashi just walked over to the now still Sakura, slipped her weights off and picked her up before walking off with her unconscious body. She stirred slightly when she was picked up. Kakashi carried the pink haired teen toward her house.

The girl had mostly woken up by the time they arrived. "Why Kakashi-sensei? Why not just give up on us?"

Kakashi smiled kindly under his mask. "Because you have not given up Sakura. It would be easy to simply give up. But you've shown up each day for over a week now and do what is required so I keep coming back each day."

"I'm not worth that much effort, Kakashi-sensei," she said quietly. "I'm just taking my punishment for being a bad teammate for Team 7."

"For the team in general or for Naruto?" Kakashi asked slowly.

"Does it really matter?" Sakura said looking away.

"Yes, it does. It matters a great deal. If Naruto was here how would he have responded to this training?" the sensei in him had to ask.

Sakura thought then replied. "He would be doing it like he did everything else, laughing and trying to make a game out of it."

"When you fell down exhausted, what would he have done?"

"He would have encouraged me and tried to get me to keep going. Maybe even make a remark that would get me angry and chase after him," Sakura replied realizing what Naruto did for her besides seem like an idiot. "He was always doing that, wasn't he?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, he was. But you never saw that. You just saw him as an annoying idiot who got in your way. Does that sound like someone else on your team in relation to you?"

The pin haired girl nodded as small tears ran down her face. "I sound like Sasuke talking about me."

"Two more days, Sakura. If you can get through two more days of this you will have proven yourself."

"To who, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.

"We can worry about that on the third day, Sakura. Go eat, get some rest and be at the training field on time tomorrow." Kakashi put his student down to stand on her doorstep and jumped off.

A few houses away he stopped to see Kurenai waiting for him.

"If she makes it through two more days without quitting, she is your team's replacement, Kurenai. That should at least prove her worth as someone who wants to be a ninja even to Kiba."

Kurenai nodded as Kakashi left on other business.

* * *

"What do you mean one of Shukaku's children?" Tsunade asked with a hint of anger in her voice. "I think this was something you could have mentioned _before_ we came here."

"Shukaku just admitted it to me moments ago," Gaara replied in his calm voice. "But they are not true children, just splinters of its chakra animating the remains of its sand body."

"Oh, like the residual chakra that was in Konoha after the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago," Shizune said nodding.

Gaara looked at the sand creature crouching just a few dozen yards away. "Yes, without the central consciousness of Shukaku to eventually return to, the chakra just pooled into the sand of its former body and created these low powered sand oni."

"It looked confused," Yuugao said. "Its posture is one that it wants to attack but something is making it stay back at the same time."

Gaara nodded. "That would likely be Naruto and I. Both of us have the chakra of our bijuu running in our systems and likely give off a stronger 'presence' than this oni. A weaker oni does not attack stronger oni unless it thinks it can win. I believe it is sizing up the competition."

"Or it could be waiting for help," Tsunade said. "Hinata, activate your Byakugan and search for chakra similar to the creature in front of us. There might be more of these creatures."

Hinata quickly made a hand sign and activated her bloodline. "This dust is infused with chakra. It limits my sight but I can see chakra nearly to the ground below the sand. The castle itself has a faint chakra signature of its own. I see at least two other creatures deep under the dust, Tsunade-sama. They are at the edge of my sight but there is an open space near them that might be a nesting area. I am seeing confusing chakra from there. It does not make sense and is nothing I have seen before. But the one before us is the strongest of the group so far."

"So if we make this one back off, we should be able to get what we came for fairly easily," Tsunade said with a smirk. "Naruto, flare your chakra. That should be enough to scare the crap out of this thing."

Naruto just made a ram seal and flared his chakra as instructed. Before he could blink the sand creature had fled beneath the sand. Hinata confirmed it had gone down to the 'nest' and seemed to be guarding the indistinct chakra signatures.

Temari walked over to the flagpole where Naruto had tried to dig and saw the dust sand had nearly filled in the small hole. "This stuff is strange. It flows like mud to fill in any spaces dug out of it. I think the chakra in it makes it do that. Gaara, can you move it?"

Gaara focused on the material beneath him and in seconds his own sand erupted from his gourd and began to dig downward. "It responds weakly to Shukaku's chakra but I think it can be held back enough for us to get the treasure and any water we need."

"Sweet," Kankuro said as he watched his younger brother work.

Naruto made over a hundred shadow clones to help shift the excavated material further away from the buried castle. Together, the pair of jinchuuriki managed to dig a hole about twenty feet deep and a hundred feet across in a few hours. The width was so that the dust sand would not refill the hole for some time. A secured window leading into the top floor of the castle was now exposed.

Tsunade grinned. "The treasury vault was in the castle itself. If we can work down through the building or alongside of it we should be rich in a few hours. Is the dust filling the inside of the castle, Gaara?"

"Strangely, no. It seems to just stop at the edge. Some kind of chakra barrier is in place holding out the dust. That explains the slight chakra trace Hinata reported," he replied.

"I think it is the old castle defenses," Tsunade explained. "A number of the old castles had seals in the walls to protect them from jutsu until the hidden villages came into being. When that happened wandering seal masters became too hard to find. This one being a treasury means it needed the extra protection from ninja. If we can get inside we should only have to deal with the internal defenses."

Tsunade had Naruto come over to the closed window. She wedged a kunai into the frame and levered it open a fraction of an inch. "Naruto, make a shadow clone on the other side of the window. The gap should allow your chakra to bypass the seal on the window. Then the clone can open it from the inside."

Naruto smiled and made his favorite hand sign. Scant seconds later, they heard the bar on the window lift and the panel over the window lifted outward. "It worked just like you said, Baa-chan," the clone said a moment before an irate Tsunade flicked it into non existence.

"Ow," complained Naruto. "That … hurt? How did I know that hurt?"

"That is one of the reasons why that technique is forbidden, Naruto," Shizune told him. "It was created as a means to spy on others. The memories and experiences of the shadow clone are returned to the creator and any existing shadow clones along with a small amount of the remaining chakra. The chakra returning is what brings back the memories. I am surprised you didn't know that since you use the jutsu so often."

Naruto rubbed his forehead as the phantom pain faded. "Well, most of the time I use it in fights or doing boring things like cleaning up or grunt work. Nothing I really want to remember there."

Yuugao leaned over to whisper to Tamari, "I bet using a few shadow clones in the bedroom would make it more memorable. Hinata is a lucky girl in a few years." Hinata overheard that and blushed along with Temari.

Tsunade pretended not to hear the comment. "Shizune, I would like you to wait out here with Gaara and Kankuro. Their skills are most useful in open areas. Temari's wind jutsu are as well but she is the most familiar with what we might encounter so she goes in with us."

Gaara nodded acceptance while Kankuro grumped over it. "I will also be able to keep the dust sand from covering the castle if it takes a large amount of time to explore," Gaara added. He did not mention that he found close spaces uncomfortable.

The group entered into the castle through the open window. Temari, Hinata and Yuugao had small flashlights and pulled them out. Tsunade looked at Naruto who patted his pockets and looked sheepish. "Um, Kakashi-sensei never went over that," he said quietly.

Tsunade shook her head and muttered but nodded toward the stairs. Hinata gave her flashlight to Naruto. Naruto created a trio of shadow clones to go first and handed off the flashlight to one of them. Tonton followed just behind the clones to sniff out anything the clones might miss. Yuugao was with Tonton. Tsunade, Temari and Hinata followed with the real Naruto bringing up the rear.

It did not take long before one reported the first trap. A wire stretched across the stairs barely a half inch over the surface. An inspection of walls showed pinholes where senbon would be fired from hidden launchers. Naruto was most familiar with traps. He went into his own stores and pulled out a pair of metal clips and attached them where the tripwire entered the wall then cut the wire. The clips kept the wire in tension while the group was able to pass by safely. Clones moved into the rooms on either side and disabled the launchers. The fact they still worked after all this time was a testament to their craftsmanship so the clones also removed and sealed the launchers into storage scrolls for Naruto.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at his actions but Naruto just grinned.

The group moved lower into the castle. Temari proved invaluable as she had long ago memorized the design of the castle. Being the daughter of the Kazekage had given her access to the plans. Her own curiosity into the castle and treasure had helped as well. She just blushed and huffed slightly that all girls, even a preteen training to be a ninja, have dreams of being a princess.

Naruto's clones moved down one level at a time looking for more traps but found none active. Tsunade felt that many were not set as there had not been an actual assault on the tower. The samurai had only left their posts under orders when the town had begun being covered in sand. The seals remained active as they were passive defenses. However as the group descended they noticed an occasional room having some normal sand scattered on the floor.

"That must have been a serious battle with sand getting inside the building," Hinata mentioned.

Yuugao broke her silence again. "I would think that it was the guards were watching through the windows there. You can see the seals are intact or the building would be full of the strange sand. Most likely normal sand blasted the building and got in through those windows when they were open," she said. "You need to make guesses based on more than what you see Hinata. You need to take into consideration the circumstances something happened in." Tsunade signaled the group to halt to confer with Temari and rest at that point so Yuugao sat next to Hinata to continue.

"Take your former teammate, Kiba for example. He was admitted to the hospital after his last mission with a self inflicted wound to the side. If you knew nothing else other than that about him what would be the first thought?" Yuugao asked.

"But Kiba-kun had to …" Hinata began.

"For this exercise, you don't know that, Hinata. You are a team leader with a recovery team and find a genin with a self inflicted wound. He had been assigned a dangerous mission with a large chance of death. What would be your first thought?" Yuugao pressed.

Hinata blushed and finally answered. "I would think that he injured himself to get out of the mission," she said quietly.

Yuugao nodded. "It is easy to make a judgment based on your first impression on seeing something but a team leader needs to realize that in our work, first impressions have an annoying tendency to be wrong. That is why Kakashi always spouted off his 'Look underneath the underneath'. He messed up on that in regard to that Uchiha but there were factors even he did not know and couldn't take into account."

Naruto grumbled hearing that but kept quiet as his clones prowled around the hallway looking at various things.

Tsunade motioned for the group to continue down the next flight of stairs into the main foyer of the sand covered castle. The closed doors stood at one end of the hall. The flashlights made strange shadows with the still tapestries that hung from the ceiling. Naruto wrinkled his nose as the still air took on a faint musty smell.

"Baa-chan, I don't think everyone left the place," he said quietly.

Tsunade nodded and swung her flashlight towards the main doors. The body of a lone samurai knelt there in full armor facing the doorway. A large dried puddle of blood surrounded the body. The group could see the mummified remains of his hand wrapped around the tanto in his stomach. In spite of its dessicated state, the armor held the corpse upright. A small scroll lay on the tray a few feet before the body so it would be the first thing seen upon opening the portal.

"Someone had to activate the seals to protect the building and it could only be done from the inside. He must have waited until he was sure no one would be returning. So he ended his life in honorable samurai fashion with seppuku rather than starve to death. The scroll is most likely his name and his death poem so the first person through the door would know who he was and that he died doing his duty," Temari said in the silence.

The Kazekage's daughter walked down to the armor enshrouded skeleton and clapped her hands together once to attract the attention of any spirits before bowing to the corpse. She then stepped around it to kneel at the edge of the dried puddle and pick up the scroll. Temari carefully opened it to read the name of the samurai.

"Shingen of the House guard, I, Temari of the Desert, Daughter of the Yondaine Kazekage of Suna, acknowledge your service to your daimyo. I will inform his descendant of your following your duty and maintaining your post unto death. Rest and join your honored ancestors," she said in a firm clear voice.

The rest of the group stood quietly as Temari spoke. The blonde girl rolled the scroll to put in her waistband and bowed once more before returning to the group. "I don't know the proper ceremony so I just did what I felt was best," she said.

Tsunade smiled and put her hand on the teen's shoulder. "It sounded good to me, Temari. Let's go make sure his reason for dying alone is taken care of properly"

Temari nodded at that. "The vaults are in the basements. The stairs should be past the formal reception area," she said.

Once the group had gotten to the basement a new problem developed. The vault door before them was locked. Tsunade chuckled and cracked her knuckles. A single punch to the frame of the vault and the door fell out with a slow creaking sound. The treasury appeared to be intact.

Hinata was worried, "This is going …" She could not continue before both Naruto and Tsunade loudly shushed her.

"No talking like that, Hinata-chan," Tsunade said in a low voice as she shook her hand. "No comments on how anything is going."

Tsunade pulled out the remaining heavy storage scrolls from when they had left Konoha. She looked at the pile of gold and silver bullion, precious gems and objects, and the large amount of coinage. She made a quick decision.

"All right, the items and gems first. They have the most overall value for the least weight. Then we seal the solid ingots. Last, we seal up the coins. I don't think we have enough space for all of it but we are going to try. Naruto, you set up a line of clones to get things passed up higher in the tower. IF we need to come back for what we cannot carry, I want it more accessible."

Naruto nodded and went out to the open areas on the floor above. He made several hundred shadow clones to make a line up the stairs to the room at the top. One peeked out to check on Gaara, Shizune and Kankuro and told the trio what was happening. The clones then started passing the ingots and bags of coins along and up the stairs while Tsunade and the rest worked on sealing the more expensive items.

Suddenly, something changed. A clone dispelled at the top of the tower and all of clones shivered in fear. Naruto looked at Tsunade with fear on his face.

"Shizune said this is going well," he said with a trembling voice.

Tsunade's eyes went wide. "WORK FASTER!" she yelled.

Hinata was confused and Temari just looked at them. "What's wrong?" Temari asked.

"It's Baa-chan's luck, Temari," Naruto said in a low voice. "When she has something good or lucky happen to her it is a sign that something even more unlucky is about to happen. That is why we shushed Hinata a few minutes ago. It we talk about how things are going for good or bad, they tend to get worse in a hurry."

They kept working quickly as both Naruto and Tsunade feared the worst. Slowly the vault emptied out into sealing scrolls or passed along the line to the upper levels by Naruto's clones. The full scrolls were passed along as well so the group would not be as burdened on the way upstairs.

A creaking noise alerted one clone on the second floor just before a window was pushing inward by the sand creature they had seen earlier. The sand tanuki bit down on a clone and it dispelled. The dust sand flowed in behind it as the creature dispelled a number of additional clones.

Naruto looked up. "We have trouble. The sand tanuki just broke through the second floor and ate a couple of my clones. It must have thought it could win a fight since the clones are getting weaker over time."

"How are we doing on getting the treasure to the top?" Tsunade asked quickly.

"Most of the treasury is on the upper floor and we can carry up the rest as we go." Naruto saw the first clone in line nod and dispel itself to pass that word along to the other clones. Sounds of 'Okay, boss' echoed all over the tower.

Yuugao was waiting for them as Tsunade, Hinata, Temari and Naruto emerged from the basement. She pointed at the mud-like globs of dust sand flowing down the stairs into the main foyer from higher up. They knew this was not going to be easy to get past. Naruto sent a clone ahead to check out the stairs but it was crushed by the weight of the sand when a large glob fell on it.

"The stairs are blocked," he told the girls. "We aren't going to get out that way."

"There is still the servant's stairway," Temari called up in a slightly panicked voice.

"No good," said Hinata. "The sand has blocked off the back exit to the foyer already. We're trapped."

The group backed up as the dust sand flowed into the room. The heard stress sounds and creaks above as the weight of the flowing mass pressed down on the supports.

Temari was panicking worse now. "It's just a matter of time until we drown in this or get crushed to death."

Tsunade shook her head. She tried to remain calm but even facing death like this was not something she really wanted. "We can find a way out. There has to be one."

"Gaara!" Naruto cried out. "He controls sand right? He can push this stuff aside long enough for us to get out of here. I think I still have some clones up there." Naruto created a new clone and had it immediately disperse. "Now all we can do is wait and hope."

The minutes passed and the flowing dust had filled nearly half of the foyer. The group was reduced to standing on top of it with chakra. Naruto tried to send a clone up through the stairwell but the pressure of the sand moving prevented it from forcing its way out before making it dispel.

The group stood near the outside wall of the tower and hoped that Gaara would be able to something when they heard the sound of wood cracking behind them. Normal sand forced its way into a crack that appeared and pulled the wood out. More sand followed and soon a hole large enough for the ninja to crawl through had been ripped into the wall. On the far side of the hole, Gaara stood in a bubble of his own sand.

The red haired boy had a slightly angry look on his face but otherwise did nothing as the five rescued ninja clambered out of the filling tower into the safe area Gaara had made.

Tsunade looked up to see daylight at the top of a long tube to the surface. Places to grasp lined the sides of the tube. "Start climbing people," she said with a wry grin. Yuugao led off with Temari and Hinata following. Tsunade pointed at the hole for Naruto to go after that when Gaara spoke.

"No, Tsunade-sama, you go first. Uzumaki and I have something else to do before we go to the surface," Gaara said in his raspy voice. Tsunade just nodded and began climbing.

Minutes later after four women had climbed from the tube, the bubble sealed off and the boys were in darkness. The bubble descended through the dust until it settled down on the solid surface that had been the ground decades earlier.

"While you were in the tower, I used my sand to probe beneath this dust and found the springs this town was built over. The springs should have filled the cisterns down here but my sand could not penetrate the lining. I need to you to use your Rasengan to punch a hole in one of them so we can fill the canteens. Then my sand can carry us back to the surface," Gaara explained.

The sand bubble bumped along the ground as Gaara forced it to move to the nearest water cistern. Once over it, Gaara made it spread out from the bottom so Naruto was standing on sandy soil. Gaara held the flashlight while Naruto started forming chakra into a Rasengan. The blue orb glowed brighter than the flashlight as Naruto got ready to slam it into the ground to rip open the cistern.

Gaara looked to one side of his bubble when it dented in deeply from an impact. Gaara's eyes went wide as a voice of Skukaku yelled in his head. "No, don't kill the babies!"

* * *

Next Chapter: Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle – Part 3

* * *

End Notes: Sorry I have been away from this story for so long. I had to totally rewrite my original plan for this story once I found myself written into a corner. Other non writing factors crept in as well and making a very LONG delay. I appreciate all the reviews. There are only a few issues I wanted to make note of.

As far as Naruto being related to half of the royal houses of the Elemental Countries. All it took was a brief look at European history. Those lineages are some of the world's most redneck intermarried families in history. I mean even today, there are family member of monarchs reigning in other countries listed in the line for the throne of Great Britain. The current King of Norway is listed as 63rd in line of succession for the British throne. Royalty tends to marry other royalty. Royal Daughters were used to seal alliances with other countries for centuries.

For Ikasury, I have to say that SHE (I never apologized for called her 'he' in another note) of course something was going to go wrong.

I will not take 5 months to get out the next chapter

Posted 10/23/2009

Edited and reposted January 2011.


	5. Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle Part 3

**Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle, Part 3**

_The sand bubble bumped along the ground as Gaara forced it to move to the nearest water cistern. Once over it, Gaara made it spread out from the bottom so Naruto was standing on sandy top of an old water cistern. Gaara held the flashlight while Naruto started forming chakra into a Rasengan. The blue orb glowed brighter than the flashlight as Naruto got ready to slam it into the ground to rip open the cistern._

_Gaara looked to one side of his bubble when it dented in deeply from an impact. Gaara's eyes went wide as a voice of Shukaku yelled in his head. "No, don't kill the babies!"_

* * *

"Naruto, wait!" Gaara cried out as he dropped the flashlight and sand wrapped around Naruto's forearm.

The blonde teen paused. He had been about to make the hole in the tank the pair was standing on.

"What's wrong Gaara?" he asked puzzled.

"Not this one. We need to find another tank to get water from. I think this one has something else besides water in it. Shukaku screamed about babies so this must be where your wife saw the sand creatures," Gaara said in his raspy voice.

Naruto nodded but slowly absorbed the chakra from the Rasengan back into his body. Gaara searched outwards with his sand but soon he was disappointed.

"The other cisterns are all holed or rotted out. This is the only intact one remaining," he said with a frown.

"If those tanuki are inside of the tank, then there is a way in, right? We can see if the water is still flowing into it," Naruto suggested.

Gaara nodded and sent sand probes out once more. Naruto picked up the fallen flashlight while Gaara concentrated. He shut it off to conserve the batteries and put it in his pocket. The air was starting to feel a bit stifling when the redhead announced, "Found it."

The sand bubble moved off the top of the cistern and down along one side until an outflow pipe was reached. The pipe was blocked on the inside by the sand body of a tanuki like the one they had encountered earlier. The ninja flared his chakra and the creature fled leaving the gap open for the boys to enter.

The interior of the cistern was dark as no natural light filtered into it. Naruto pulled out the flashlight and lit it once more. The area was a cylinder and twenty yards across and roughly ten yards high. A covering of sand lined the edges and a clear pool of water filled the floor at the lowest point.

On the point furthest away from the boys sat a pair of the sand tanuki. The pair of larger adults looked just like mini clones of the monster he had fought outside of Konoha a few months prior. They were standing over what appeared to be a trio of half formed young. Naruto watch in awe as one would be pulling itself together on one part while another part crumbled. The larger of the adults hissed at the intruders but maintained its distance.

Gaara went still as he listened to Shukaku before relaying the information to Naruto.

"The young ones don't have enough chakra to stay alive on their own. We bijuu are indepenant living chakra entities and regenerate our chakra from the ambient energy around us. Since energy cannot be destroyed, any let out remains in the area it was released at unless gathered. Oni like this are formed when the chakra residue left behind by a bijuu is large enough. The small ones cannot gather any more to become self sustaining because there is not enough life in the area to provide it. The adults created the strange sand around this town to trap and funnel the chakra of anything it catches into the babies. It is enough to keep them alive but not enough to get them to the point of being self sustaining."

"Couldn't the grownups give the little ones some chakra?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.

Gaara listened again.

"If the big ones fed any chakra directly to the babies, they would end up absorbing them instead since the babies are not fully formed yet. They need an outside source. Once they have enough of their own, they can take in chakra from the big ones to grow."

"Man, that's complicated," Naruto grumbled.

Gaara pulled out the canteens the group had given him and moved toward the pool of water. The larger tanuki hissed once more but didn't attack. The boy filled the canteens and moved back to Naruto. The blonde looked deep in thought during all of this.

"Gaara, what if we gave the little ones some chakra? Would the big ones leave the area with them? You know, take them someplace they could find something to eat," the blonde suggested.

Gaara flinched as Shukaku shouted for joy in his head at the idea.

"Well, Shukaku claims they might. There would have to be a whole lot of chakra involved, Naruto. It would take more than our entire group combined to do that," Gaara told him.

"Not ours, Gaara, some of Shukaku's chakra. You said that these things came from the chakra it left behind. So if you gave them just enough of it to let them so find food somewhere else, they would leave right?"

Gaara frowned at the idea of letting any part of his bijuu's chakra loose. The rants of the demon he held captive changed their tone now. They were becoming pleas to help the babies. After a long time considering the possibilities, three large globs of Gaara's sand seemed to glow yellow for a moment before flying off to the far side of the cistern. Each landed on a half formed tanuki and sunk into them.

The whines of the adults stopped at that point. As the boys watched, each of the small ones solidified into additional miniature versions of Shukaku. The sound coming from all five of the mini bijuu clones changed to what Naruto and Gaara took as happiness. The second largest moved closer to Gaara must as a dog would to its owner. Shukaku told Gaara that the tanuki was trying to thank him.

Gaara channeled a bit more chakra and focused the idea that the deep desert away from all people should be a perfect place to feed the small ones. There was enough life there that they could live undisturbed as long as they did not grow so large they would attract attention. Once that chakra was pushed into a ball of sand, Gaara tossed it to the tanuki groveling before him.

The minor demon called out to the other four as the boys climbed out of the cistern with the full canteens. Gaara pushed the sand bubble to the surface and both boys welcomed the fresh air of the desert evening.

* * *

Back in Konoha, the evening brought out a sense of relief to another person as well. Kakashi called a halt to the day's exercises. Sakura had managed to keep on her feet through the afternoon as she and Sasuke did laps around the training field wearing the weights. This was the end of the second day that she had been told to expect when Kakashi had carried her home.

"That ends today's training," Kakashi called out to his genin.

Sasuke just glowered at his teacher while Sakura sat to catch her breath. She looked up when she heard a person approach. The dark hair of Yuhi Kurenai, the jonin sensei of Team 8 was visible against the sunset as she walked into the training area.

"Ah, right on time Kurenai-san," Kakashi said as he smiled under his mask.

"I was waiting for you to call a halt first, Kakashi," she replied. "She passes I presume?"

"Yes, she does," Kakashi said before turning to Sakura.

"Sakura, effective tomorrow morning, you are being reassigned to Team 8. You will fill in the gap left by the departure of Hyuuga, excuse me, _Uzumaki_ Hinata. I recall that you are a natural genjutsu type and seeing as Kurenai is the most gifted we have in genjutsu in Konoha at this time, it should be a good fit for you," Kakashi said while smiling.

"But Kaka-sensei, what about what you always said about abandoning your teammates?" she asked as she looked at Sasuke then back at Kakashi.

The jonin nodded.

"It does not apply in this case, Sakura. You are merely being re-assigned to a different squad. It will happen often enough in your career as you remain a ninja. Just give me the weights before you leave. I hope you will be a better teammate in the future for anyone you work with, Sakura," Kakashi said as he held out his hand.

Sakura pulled the weight belts off of her arms legs and hips to hand them to Kakashi. The teacher commented to the pink haired girl in a voice too low for the grousing Sasuke to hear.

"You have earned this second chance with Kurenai, Sakura. Make the best of it. You have earned it through your own merits. I am proud of you Haruno Sakura."

Sakura let go of the weights in her hand to Kakashi's stronger grip. She felt much lighter than she had in weeks as another weight she had not known existed fell from her heart and soul. She was ready to move on now. The girl walked to Kurenai who led her away from that barren training area and she never looked back.

* * *

Jiraiya looked over the village as night fell. Things were not progressing as quickly he had planned. The Daimyo had executed the three Councilors who had been sent to him and their assets sold off to recoup the money lost from their embezzlement. The remaining members of the Council closed ranks against Jiraiya and blamed the deaths squarely on him. The auditors had not found any further misdeeds in regards to village finances but the damage was done there.

Several smaller clans began to side with the Council against Jiraiya. All that remained of his support within the village were the seven clans who had voted against banishing Naruto. That amounted to a mere quarter of active ninja on 'his' side. Trouble was brewing and quickly. His latest message to the Daimyo with the auditor had not been replied to yet. Jiraiya was going to have to reveal the change of leadership scroll sooner than he had planned.

Once it was known that Tsunade had stepped down and was a free agent in the Elemental countries, there would be a mad scramble for her services among all existing hidden villages.

* * *

Tsunade sneezed as the group set up camp outside of the strange sand trap.

'Too much dust in the air,' she thought.

The boys relayed their experience in the cistern and Tsunade frowned.

"You should have come up and asked for advice but I cannot really disagree with your final result. We have most of the treasury and more than enough water to reach the next town. Those sand tanuki trouble me but everything living wants to keep on living. Even demons I guess," she said as Hinata and Shizune passed out dinner.

Naruto grinned in the old smile the former Hokage had not seen in weeks. The boy always managed to lift her spirits when something turned up working out.

During the night, a wind picked up in the desert and a small sandstorm came from nowhere to hide any view past the campsite. The person on watch could do nothing but sit with Gaara and wait for it to pass. The redhead still would not sleep at night but he now knew a meditation that would mimic sleep and allow his mind to cope with the lack of it. It would not do for him to slide into madness once more.

Dawn arrived and the sandstorm had cleared up. Hinata was on watch when the sun rose. As she looked around she gasped and the sight and called to wake the others. The sight was one they would recall for a long time.

Where the strange chakra sand had been was now an open circular basin more than two miles across and down to the ground level from before the sand had engulfed the region. The remains of the town littered the ground around the mostly intact castle. Down the edges of various spots around the basin could be seen the remains of many wagons and bodies of expeditions to find the hidden town. As the party stood in silence, the sunlight spilled down to touch the floor of the basin. Various small springs could be seen glistening in the sunshine and wetting the sand.

"They actually left," Naruto said in awe.

"The storm must have been the sand tanuki releasing their trap and moving to where they could find something to eat and be safe," Shizune mused.

Tsunade tried to hide her own awe and get things moving once more.

"We need to continue on and get this treasure to the Daimyo and claim our reward. Once it is known that the town has been reclaimed there should be a bonus for us," she said thinking of the money and renown they might get for this.

* * *

It turned out that Tsunade was right in the idea that they would be rewarded. The Wind daimyo was thrilled to have the treasury of the castle returned to his coffers. He paid Tsunade and the group the equivalent of an A-rank mission for their efforts. Temari took the time to present the scroll of the samurai who had remained behind in the castle to the leader. In turn, he called in the grandson of the man who was also in the service of the daimyo, a samurai just as the fallen man had been. The samurai was moved to tears at the presentation and requested the honor of leading a team to recover the fallen and reclaim the town in the daimyo's name. The leader took it one step further and named the middle aged man to be the captain of the guard at the now renamed Shingen Castle. The samurai knelt and bowed with his forehead touching the ground before his leader vowing that he would serve the daimyo until his death at that castle just as his ancestor had.

Tsunade decided that she and her apprentices did not need an entire town. She suggested that anything which could be salvaged from the ruins be used to bring the town back to life. As an oasis, it would take a week off of the civilian travel time between the capitals of the Wind and Fire countries. It would be years before it could be rebuilt but it would be well worth the effort.

* * *

In Konoha, another upheaval was taking place. Jiraiya finally divulged the resignation of Tsunade to the Council. The group were astounded and thrilled at first until the Toad Sage revealed the next scroll naming him the Hokage with full power at once. His first order of business with the full authority of the title of Hokage was to dismiss the Council and tell it he would call them in when he wanted any advice.

The former Council met on their own shortly after their dismissal.

"How dare that jumped up _boy_ treat us like his minions," Homura commented angrily.

"There is not much we can do about it," replied a former civilian member.

"Actually, there is something we can do about it," Danzo said with a sly grin on his face. The one eyed cripple outlined a plan that had most of the once all powerful Council grinning as they wanted back the power that had once been theirs.

The first step in his plan was accomplished within hours. The majority of jonin that sided with the Council voted and relieved Nara Shikaku of his position as lead jonin. The laid back man merely said it was troublesome but accepted the vote. It was noted by several that the vote fell almost eerily similar to the one that had banished Naruto from Konoha. Only the clans of Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Sarutobi, and Yamanaka voted in Shikaku's favor. There were few jonin beyond those that stayed on his side.

However, the biggest surprise came in the form of the vote of Hatake Kakashi. It was noted by many that he showed up three hours late like always but then he voted to depose his friend. Many saw that his vote against Shikaku and his continued training of the Uchiha boy meant he was on their side.

* * *

Tsunade and company headed for Suna with the Sand Siblings after leaving the Wind daimyo. The trip took them a mere day at ninja speeds and they were glad to see the carts of medical supplies awaiting them. The events later that day was something that Naruto would recall for the rest of his life.

It began simply enough. Yuugao was giving Hinata and Naruto physical training. The heat of the desert day was stifling and both teens were wearing the same attire they normally did in Konoha. Yuugao noticed them both sweating and overheating so she made a training decision.

"Kids, lose the jackets!" she called out.

Both teens looked at their instructor for a moment. Naruto shrugged and removed his orange jacket to show his black t-shirt underneath. Sweat ahd the fabric clinging to his skin. Hinata on the other hand was much more hesitant.

"I'm fine, Yuugao-sensei. Really I am. I can keep it on and still train," she said nervously.

"Did I give you a choice, chunin?" Yuugao said as she hovered over the much shorter girl.

Trembling, Hinata removed her heavy jacket. Once the coat fell to the sand, there was little the body shy former heiress could do to hide her curves. Naruto could only stare in shock. Up until now, the most he had seen of Hinata had been baggy shirts and her sleep attire only gave a hint of her true shape underneath.

Now, he could see her sweat covered shirt sticking close to her body and outlining every curve and contour. Her waist was narrow while her hips flared out and the material stuck to her skin showing that her figure rivaled a girl closer to 16 than 13. 'Whoa, she is even bigger than Ino,' was all his mind could process before he passed out smiling.

Yuugao could only look from one teen to the other as Hinata rushed over to comfort her husband and wake him up. The former ANBU was concerned but also noticed before it faded that a certain part of Naruto's anatomy had registered its approval of his wife.

Chakra lessons the next day with Shizune continued the acorn training. Naruto could finally manage the half hour that Hinata had accomplished the first day. Shizune increased the training to a second acorn on each hand before having the teens start to do something other than merely focus on the acorns. She had Naruto studying his basics of math, science and language that he had passed up learning in the Academy. She reminded him that the basics were needed to get to medical training. She quizzed the pair on what they would read during each half hour while maintaining the chakra holding the acorns. Splitting the focus of their attention meant they needed to accomplish more with their minds each day.

The teachers soon found that Naruto was not stupid. He simply had blown off many of his classes or been given poor reports on his progress. People who did not wish him to succeed had been hounding him most of his life and it showed in his class ranking. Tsunade thought it funny that if they had not done so Naruto would have been ranked about one third of the way up the ranks and been placed on a team that had eventually failed and been sent back to the Academy or failed out completely. Sarutobi had been canny in assigning him to the Uchiha's team when based on scores Kiba would have been on that team instead. People would not allow the failure of 'the last loyal Uchiha'.

The group stayed in Suna for two weeks before word reached them that Jiraiya had announced the change in Hokage. Once that happened, Tsunade knew that they would need to move on.

* * *

"Kuso," Tsunade growled once the news was heard in Suna. "I had hoped he could keep a lid on this for a couple of months longer. Things must not be going well in Konoha if he needs to tell about my stepping down. The news of Naruto's heritage would be reaching the ears of the other nations as well through diplomatic channels soon.

* * *

In the Land of Spring, Koyuki chuckled at the news of her favorite blonde gaki being of royal blood. 'Someone like that would make a worthy consort if only he had not been married already,' she pondered. The news from Konoha was direr. The resignation of Tsunade over the banishment of said gaki form Konoha. Coupled together, the pair of blondes were free to roam the lands, free from any entanglement and could go anywhere they pleased.

"Get me a messenger and a tracker. The fastest ones we have. I have an offer to present to a certain hero of the Land of Spring," she commanded.

* * *

In the Land of Water, the newly titled Godaime Mizukage frowned at the news. A royal survivor of the Land of Whirlpool had turned up. The island nation was still barren but who knew what could happen if he should decide to return to the land of his ancestors. The remnants of the citizens lived in many countries along the coast; Fire, Wave, Sea, Water, Tea and Lightning all boasted families and clans from that destroyed nation. All they lacked was a rallying point to bring them together once more. A member of the royal line could be that point.

To make things worse, the boy was a ninja and accompanied by the legendary medic Tsunade. That could mean a revival of that cursed Uzushiogakure as well. The business to the Mist village had tripled when that village had been destroyed. She needed to protect her own interests.

"Fetch me my hunter ninja. I have a job for them," she instructed.

* * *

In the Land of Earth, an old man yelled in anger at hearing the news.

"The spawn of that butcher Namikaze is not just a rumor. He lives and I cannot even touch him! The blasted daimyo has forbidden it! The brat is a relation to him. The blasted Leaf village however has that fool Jiraiya in charge of it now. We shall see if we cannot destroy two thorns with one blow. If there is an attack on the Leaf we shall see how the spawn reacts. Who knows what can happen in a war zone?"

An evil chuckle sounded from the man and his granddaughter wondered if the man had completely lost his mind.

* * *

Leaders and ninja in a half dozen other countries and hidden villages took in the news of Tsunade and Naruto. Different plans were made in each case but there was a common thread throughout.

They wanted to find the blonde and either to secure his services or to prevent another group from doing so

* * *

**End Notes:  
**I said it would not take 5 months for an update. I took 15, so there, ha! Um wait a second, that doesn't sound right. Well, a lot has happened and I have gone back and edited a bit in the previous four chapters. There are no significant changes but rather fleshed out a few points.

I did notice as I was doing final edits that two other Missing Hokage stories updated as well. I guess other people had the same idea to get back on it like I had,

The scene of Hinata removing her jacket and the sweaty shirt sticking to her body to show her contours is a homage to the Hinata waterfall scene in episode 148

**Author Notes:  
**My writing overall is picking up again. My stories are flowing slowly and I hope to keep updates coming often enough to satisfy the readers. I am pushing for 15k words a month right now which is an update on any 3 stories of my active ones. That is not my all time best but it should be reachable and not burn me out. That of course does not take into account any concept ideas I write down.


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